Vampire's Gambit
by Soul of Ashes
Summary: After The Witch's Prophecy. "Speak," I commanded. "If you can." I drew the Reaver. The imprisoned girl gasped and stared at the sword as if it was the source of her salvation. (COMPLETE)
1. Amanda 'Waking Nightmare'

Author's Note: Allow me to ramble for a long time.

I've been planning this since the middle of Witch's Prophecy. It's a sequel, but you needn't read Witch's Prophecy to get it. Okay? All will be explained in this, my second LoK fanfic. I am including Kain, and yes, it is first person, and yes, from Kain's perspective. I may or may not pull an Elizabeth Kerner and do it, switching chapters from Amanda to Kain to Amanda... (Or, perhaps, like Lok: Defiance). However, this first chapter must be dedicated to Amanda because she's been so patient with the bullets shooting into her body and the bleeding and the avoidance of death and...heee.... Um. Has been watching way too much Foamy the Squirrel

PS: I rewrote parts of the chapter describing Kamael. I'm sorry if I got lazy, thanks to WillieHewes for reminding me that being lazy is no way to write a story, and to take my own advice. Bows

_--Amanda--_

I woke to pain. It was more like waking up after finally falling asleep, sick with fever and vomiting, and dream something pleasant before you rise again to the same waking nightmare. I saw faces drift before my warped vision, twisted into monsters with fangs dripping with blood. I don't remember if I screamed.

"Are you awake?" a voice is asking me.

"I don't know. Don't care. Wanna sleep." I curled into myself, hoping for the best - which is to say, to die. Cold fingers cupped my face and forced me to sit up. I tasted something on my lips, and drank an elixir of some kind that felt like fire and ice cream and Raziel's kiss.

Before it came the point of painful, it was taken away. I fell asleep again. Death was not meant for me, obviously. I had surreal dreams about my cat, my mom, and my old apartment. I dreamed that mom came to the cathedral and she met Raziel, and looked pretty happy to see him. It was a vague misconstrued idea in my brain that I knew would not now come true.

"Wake up, girl."

Cold hands pulled me out of my mind. I sat up, my mind made of cotton. The first thought that hit me was I was really cold, and these clothes sure as hell didn't feel familiar at all. I stared into the face of the dark-haired vampire Darius.

He was the vampire who had taken me in along with Raziel, when he had first come crashing through this world due to casting a spell in the woods of Upstate New York. I was a foolish wanna-be gothic girl with nothing to lose, who sought to pluck a friend out of nowhere. I truly admit that I had no idea what I was doing, or what exactly I had gotten myself into. By the time I realized what had happened, I was too proud of my accomplishment to realize the weight of the destruction I would cause. It was Raziel the Soul Reaver who came to me through a portal in space, and it was only now that I began to regret ever trying magic in the first place. But I own my mistake and the responsibility, only to have nearly paid for it with my life.

Darius's grin could have terrified any murderer from here to Alaska. His teeth seemed already fastened on my throat yet he sat on the edge of the bed about an arm's length away. I had no reason to fear him, yet something about his face made me want to jump off the bed and crawl into the corner.

"Relax," he purred, reaching out to touch me. I flinched when his cold fingers came into contact with my arm. I felt extremely warm, but it could've been because I was flushed. "Are you feeling any better?"

I didn't know what he meant. I remembered very little. I remember that moments before dreaming, I knew for sure I was dying - just as I knew that Raziel was leaving and there was very little I could say in the matter.

My back hurt. I felt something pinch and twist against my skin and realized it might be a bandage. But it was just an annoyance. Nothing too strenuous. I brushed my hands over where I felt the sensation and encountered the cloth, meanwhile never taking my eyes off of Darius.

"I can get up and get some clothes on if that's what you mean. In the meantime, can I have some damn privacy?" I know, I sounded much too bold for my own good. But when I was in the slightest amount of pain, I got grumpy - real fast.

I seemed to have scared him into obeying, at least for the moment. Once I was alone, I wandered aimlessly around the room. I was immensely weak. I kept retreating to the bed to sit down. What I could tell about the room: it was neat. There wasn't much more to describe than that, other than there being a bed, a single dresser, and a small bathroom. After regaining some of my strength, I visited the bathroom before examining myself in the mirror, naked and looking a tad thinner than I had remembered.

Perhaps I was paranoid, but I checked myself all over for any sign of bite marks. It was hard searching when I couldn't bend my back the way I wanted it to, thanks to the bandage. Plus, I wasn't sure if it had fully healed all the way, or if I was opening it and it was bleeding. There was a towel hanging behind the door and I took it. My hair was a mess, but I didn't care. I wrapped the towel around me and walked toward the dresser.

Amazingly, all of my clothes were here. Darius must have brought them. I wondered whether or not he'd brought his amazing trio of Kafele and the twins.

My hands started to shake as I fitted a black v-neck shirt over my slim frame. It was a good deal looser than I remembered, but it wasn't sagging and at least I looked... presentable. I returned to the bathroom, the trembling I was suffering spreading down to my legs. I splashed water onto my face and into my hair, combing my fingers through the short locks before turning to the door.

Darius stood there, and this time he brought a friend.

They moved long enough for me to get out of the bathroom, fully dressed in the black shirt, dark hip-hugging flares, and a pair of white socks.

Darius bowed grandly, seemingly less at ease in the presence of this other vampire. I was glad to see him squirm, but there was an aura about this vampire that made me cold like something terrible.

"This is my Sire," Darius explained, bowing deeply and motioning to the taller being.

Darius's sire - how to describe him? His hair was pale white, with deep lines of age and wisdom folded into his face. But these lines did not detract from his otherwise beautiful, ethereal face. He gave off the impression that he was some angel from heaven that fell into very hip, modern vampire clothes. Long, black leather duster that fell nearly to the floor, with only three shining metal buttons to hold it in front, wide pockets on the sides, and sleek black trousers. His shirt was metallic gray and silk, so shiny that I really wanted to touch it. He did not appear pampered, merely gracefully aged, with black eyes and finely arched brows.

"I am Kamael," he said, his deep voice hitting the deepest roots of my being. "And I am the one who brought you back from the edge of death."

_Oh, yeah? And why would that be, I wonder? _My mind thought on its own. I was afraid of him reading my thoughts. I tried to block him, and it seemed to have worked. I suppose being a sorceress gave me such advantages.

Unfortunately, I was still tired so I couldn't think of anything intelligent to say. So I didn't say anything. I let my shoulders droop and my weariness show, only because I didn't want to start a conflict so soon after waking up. I was hungry, yet the thought of food made me nauseated.

"You seem well off, but you have only rested for awhile. Still, it is fast healing that has brought you back to us."

_Back to you? I want to go home. I'm not staying here, no way in hell._

The strength to guard my mind was waning. Kamael smiled, his fangs glinting in the soft light spilling from the lamp next to the bed. The two kindred led me back to the bedside and tucked me in. My clothes made it harder to go to sleep, but it felt really good to lay down again.

"I am afraid you won't be going home," Kamael whispered, brushing my hair back. His touch was like ice and he smelled like blood. "You see, Darius has power over you now, and if you should ever think of running away, you will find yourself yourself haunted by thoughts of him. You are under his willpower, little Amanda, and nothing you can do will break you from it."

It was apparent that his will was greater when I passed out, a snapshot image of Darius's sneering face the last thing I could recall.

Author's Notes: I know some of you are probably really disappointed in the last story. I have no means to fix it, or know exactly what's wrong with it. But I'm not satisfied with it. If you think otherwise, that's great...and if you agree, that's awesome, too. I'm just not quite sure what it is that draws me to write... even if it is a little quirky, and makes no sense... this is still all practice to me. I'm an aspiring writer, with absolutely no hopes pinned up right now. I have other talents, but writing is a good way for me to deal with every day frustrations.

LoK is a good story to sink your teeth into, if you pardon the phrase. It's also a good fanfic to base your stuff on, if not a little bit more challenging than your average FF7 fanfic, or what-have-you. Basically, I respect Eidos and Eidos interactive, and Crystal Dynamics and the story-makers that make my make-believe world shine all the time. I don't own Raziel or Kain, or even vampires, for their story is older than old itself. I have the deepest respect and honor the people who worked hard to make Raziel who he is... and Kain... and Nosgoth itself breathe with life, even at its most decadent state.

I'm not trying to remake anything. I'm just trying to be what I am... a writer. I'll no longer 'beg' for reviews anymore. They'll come when they do. Maybe I'm just tired. Laughs


	2. Kain 'Nursing the Pillars'

Author's Notes: My first Kain Chapter. This begins after Legacy of Kain: Defiance.

Smoke: You know, you even make a good point when using such descriptions. You really do! I know how my writing seems really choppy, but I have a habit of getting really good motivation to write when it's obviously way past my usual time to go to sleep. So it's not my 'best', per se... this chapter is being revised even I was write 'this'. Thanks!

WillieHewes: I fixed the 'Anne Rice-y' problem, and actually made the picture a little clearer. I was eager to get on with the story when I first wrote the chapter, and didn't want to waste time on too many details. I know I'm not as good as most around here... I know for a fact that you probably revise and revise like a maniac. And yes, I guess you probably 'should' read Witch's Prophecy first... But I also lengthened the 'explanation' in Amanda's re-cap in Chapter 1 as well... I hope that makes it clearer for you.

LunaticPandora1: It is fans like you that make me so happy to be writing. I'm so glad you've been so patient with me! I wanna hug you, but, uh... that would be rather hard. Squeaks Anyway, I hope you like Kain!

--_Kain_--

In Nosgoth's darkest hour, I rose quickly to the threat of the Hylden's return. Any hesitation would have given them an advantage I could not afford to give them. I hadn't fully explored my power as Scion of Balance - but something told me I had all the time in this broken world to do so.

I could not simply wander Nosgoth and pillage and plunder every demon I laid sight upon. Gallivanting through time was also too dangerous for me to attempt. So instead, I searched the time-period, five-hundred years after Moebius had begun recruiting vampire hunters for his holy war, for Janos Audron's body. He was possessed by a Hylden demon just before I finally met Raziel underneath the Vampire Citadel. It was difficult work, considering Janos had wings and I did not. Portals, of course, were strewn about Nosgoth's landscape and I had but to access one of them to reach the other side of the continent. It was obvious that I should take up my seat at Scion of Balance. It would have been the logical thing to do.

I am not the most logical vampire.

In my wanderings, I often stopped and longed for the opportunity to right the things that I have done wrong. Perhaps if I had not cast Raziel into the Lake, the world as we knew it would have remained whole. Still, nothing could have stopped my past self from refusing the sacrifice and becoming the Scion of Balance. I was, and am still, through with casting my coin to the winds. It was not destiny, but Raziel's sacrifice that gave me the power to remake Nosgoth to its former glory.

Although it may not know its true life, for the scars of my treachery ran deeper than I could ever know, perhaps I could bring Nosgoth her vital breath that she had been missing for so long.

How could I not complete my role, after all that Raziel had given me?

It became painfully clear that I would not find Janos Audron easily. I had already wasted much time looking for him, so now I approached the remains of the Pillars. Here, in another time, I would have built the seat of my vampiric empire. Now I would have to give the Pillars back to them, which meant I would need to raise more sons. This task was hard enough, since I no longer possessed the Heart of Darkness. With it, I had been a vampire. I knew not if I still had the gift, or the strength, to do so once more.

The Pillars themselves stood like the broken backbone of a great and glorious beast. Their white stones had turned black, their jagged edges still hot from the energy it had taken for them to collapse. I stepped over the broken remains, feeling as though I treaded on the sacred grave of something enormous and lost, never to be regained again. There was a soft humming in the air, but there was little meaning in it that I could comprehend. I felt the ground beneath me tremble every few moments, as if the earth were protesting against this disaster.

I reached back to draw the Reaver. My claws instantly closed on it of their own volition, much sooner than I had intended. I drew the blade, and realized that the humming was coming out of the sword itself. It glowed along the entire serpentine length of it. This phenomenon was not new to me. It often began to glow when the Hylden were close.

"What is it, Raziel?" I murmured softly, my voice purring on the name. "Do you feel something close by?" I had often begun referring to the sword as himself, merely because I refused to see it as a mere object, or a tool. I wondered how he felt to be inside of it, trapped in this nearly six foot length of steel and vampiric sorcery.

The sword did not, by any means, provide a feasible answer. Instead I turned, surveying the Pillars once more. I approached the Pillar of Balance slowly, gazing up at it. There was an ominous crack that still followed straight up through it, toward the broken peak where it had fallen. In time, this cracked piece would also fall and become the perfect place to craft a egotistical vampire's throne.

"What am I to do, eh?" I sighed. How the hell was I supposed to know how to fix the Pillars? Their damage was done. Was I to go and fetch every meandering shard of Pillar-stone and glue them together again with mortar?

Suddenly I felt the Reaver - Raziel - pull me. He was guiding me closer to the Balance Pillar. And then the blade was suddenly yanked out of my grasp to the point of making me stumble. I was angry, of course - the Reaver running away from me is something I hadn't planned on. It didn't go far. It slipped easily into the crack in the Balance Pillar. The sight appalled me, as a bright line of white light seemed to flash upward along the crack.

The other Pillars seemed to follow the example. Light seemed to implode from the very air, striking the stone and making the atmosphere ring with several notes, as though great bells had all been struck. I thought the chord was the most beautiful thing I had ever heard.

Then the Pillars started to glow.

I stood back, my body savagely attacked by the constantly echoing din of the bells. The Pillars were singing, and I had but to relinquish my body to their eternal song. The Reaver made this possible - Raziel was the orchestrator of this wonderous event, and all of my hopes rested upon him.

The horizon was on fire. I was momentarily blinded, almost terrified that the sun was rising and it's rays would harm me. It burned my eyes, but the rest of me was untouched. I watched as the Pillars strengthened. I was enthralled to the point of gaping my mouth slightly, watching as the shadows of the structures lengthened. They were taller, almost lost in the blueness of the sky.

The Pillars were, for lack of a better term, 'a little better'. I approached to reclaim the Reaver, pulling it free with ease. I smiled a little, and a relief filled me, warming me more than the ethereal spilling down on me. The Pillar of Balance appeared better off than the others, and its shadow had already fallen across me like a comforting omen of good fortune.

This last was the best certainty I had felt in a long time. But there was still the question of the Hylden, and whether or not the Binding would renew itself.

I turned away from the structures, only for a moment. I was reeling from the sight I had witnessed. Very few things in my life had been so... involving. My emotions were as tumultous as the whole wretched history that Raziel and I had prevented. (I am still inclined to give him most of the credit, even if I am a heartless, egostical son of a bitch.)

A portal suddenly came to my attention. It was blatantly obvious, sitting in the midst of the wreckage, and spinning like a small galaxy. At first it was beyond my line of sight, being flat like a mirror. It was only visible from one sid as well. I approached it, sheathing the Reaver as I went. I was naturally leary. I didn't blindly explore things without good reason. Yet I had very little choice in the matter. Before I knew it, I was thrown off of my feet, and tumbled headlong into the swirling vortex.

Raziel obviously had other plans.

Author's Notes: I had to do something that would ensure Nosgoth's safety -- at least for awhile. This does not mean that it will last. Kain will eventually be inclined to return... Ahem, ahem But for now, Amanda has to borrow him. She didn't do it this time, though. Raziel's really quite useful as a sharp, pointy object that looks like the embodiment of scariness.


	3. Amanda 'Sweet Venice'

Author's Notes: Amanda's going to learn some harsh lessons about the vampire world. Unfortunately, very few of them are pleasant. Although she is basically the embodiment of me, I like to punish myself... -- But! I went through and added and cut, and revised a little... And made it as presentable as possible. Slightly longer read than most chapters, mostly because I have to explain a lot... it's tiresome, but necessary.

--_Amanda_--

My life passed by slowly. By the time I saw my birthday go by the second time, I realized it was hopeless trying to escape my new nightmare.

My home was in Venice. They had moved the Portal, having the money to pay humans to do the work with huge machinary. It was all a very covert operation. How they did it: they pretty much destroyed most of that gorgeous cathedral and transported the _entire room _to a vault in Italy, close enough to where I lived to be accessible.

I lost most of my innocence to the vampire world. I was its captive; Darius was my master. Kamael seemed uninterested in my situation, though he proved only to be the reason why I was allowed to live at all. However, I valued his company whenever I could get it, and I was greatly relieved whenever I was allowed to stay in his companionship.

I soon learned that Sethys was Darius's brother. In killing Sethys, Raziel had pegged me with the responsibility of his demise. Darius blamed everything on me, which was typical - I was used to everything being my fault, even as a child. I turned seventeen and already acquired new meanings for the words 'disobedience' and 'respect'. The hatred and loathing that flowed from Darius was my shroud every time I was within earshot of him. Every once in awhile, he would force feed me his blood to make sure I was _his_ human. The taste of it was nauseating, but the fact that it was his repulsed me even more.

Sometimes I was not indebted to Kamael for saving my life.

Kamael had borrowed me for the night. I was dressed like the vampires, for at least Darius had finally agreed with his Sire that I deserved to at least be treated as an almost-equal. Snug, black pants that hugged my bony hips. I had a high waist, but there was very little fat on me that could be pinched between two fingers. A tight black longsleeve shirt, with fish-net sleeves was my costume, and platform shoes to elevate me a little more. My hair had grown, and was now a formidable mane of dark brown locks.

Darius had me dye it an interesting brown bronze color, which in my opinion was a decided improvement over my natural color. It clung to my red highlights, which gleam golden-red in the sunlight. Too bad - Darius would have adored it himself, if he wasn't prone to smoking like a charcoal barbeque when the sun touched him.

I also wore a three-inch wide collar around my neck, made of flexible black cotton cloth. I had scars on each side of my throat from Darius's teeth. For some reason, I was loathe to even want to see Kamael look at me with the Thirst in his eyes. I could always tell by looking at a vampire whether or not he was afflicted with it. Their eyes gleamed that suspicious yellow I had seen before when Darius left in the night to find an appropriate victim.

I rarely saw any of my master's brood about. Kafele visited occasionally. I noticed gloomily that she had showed up one time without her blood-bonded kitten, which never appeared in her arms since. Its demise had already fallen, the way she seemed to restlessly move her hands about forlornly.

I was as doomed as that feline. I had already felt the workings of my mind beginning to fail on me. Not even my dreams were pleasant anymore, but were grotesque, backward mirrors of the bloodstained reality of my waking life.

Kamael and I sat near the balcony of his estate some distance from the waterfront. The moon was breath-taking, sparking off of anything that shined, including the Mediterranean Sea that sprawled out before us like an exotic lady. The fertile land was riddled with tourists, and not without its occasional evil-doer, presenting dinner to any vampire who wanted a taste of the Mediterranean

I missed Raziel. I felt his absence every day, wishing with my soul he'd come back.

I heard Raziel's voice in my thoughts as Kamael regarded me thoughtfully. It was just a whisper, but a whisper I had come to ignore. Every night now, I would hear it. It was as though something inside of me was talking to itself, and every night I tried to shut it out, reminded by the painful memory in the transport chamber.

"What is that troubles your mind so?" Kamael murmured suddenly, uncrossing his legs, if only to cross them again in the opposite direction. I still wasn't used to how tall he was. I shrank into my chair, reluctant to speak.

"Tell me," Kamael went on softly, taking on his most fatherly voice. I knew the cruelty underneath it, sensed a dark shadow of a threat.

I sighed, swallowing and playing with the cloth around my throat. "I miss... Raziel. All the time."

"It wouldn't have been this way if it weren't for your meddling, my girl," Kamael replied simply. I bit my lip, already fed up with the old argument. "There's very little you can do to about it now. He is gone; you have already fallen too deep into our world. Let him go."

"Why do you have to make so much sense... and at the same time, I feel like I should really hate you?"

"Would you rather I give up on treating you kindly?" His voice took on an edge. I didn't like it, so I quickly changed my attitude.

"Every time I look at something... that even 'remotely' seems like Raziel... I feel it. Something hurts inside like I'm in that damn room again and he's right there... and then he leaves me. Just like that. I know it's my fault. But I fixed it - well, I tried to as much as I could."

Kamael nodded. I didn't even care if he was listening. I got up, stretching slowly, feeling the kinks work themselves out of my system. I still had the power of magic. But each time Darius fed me his dark blood, my control over my powers weakened. It was one of many reasons why I hadn't attempted to flee.

I didn't want to talk anymore. I had said all I could without bursting out into a raging tirade. So I bit my lip again and looked at Kamael and made my most snide curtsey I could manage. "Permission to return to my quarters until my master returns?"

"If you insist..." Kamael nodded, waving his hand dismissively.

I left the room quietly, walking down the modern hallways of the Sire's broad estate, stopping to admire the occasional painting that caught my eye. I had to admit, all of the books about vampires seemed to make more sense. Not everything was true, per se, but it was close enough that I was familiar with them.

After I had moved to Venice with Darius and Kamael, it became clear that I was to be the one to look after the portal to Nosgoth now that it was opened. It wasn't far, and I had hoped that Darius wouldn't be angry should I ever become inclined to go check on it. After all, my responsibility to the door claimed higher priority than sitting around and waiting for him to beat me.

Suddenly my head started pounding. The pain didn't feel acutely like Darius calling me to him. Instead, it was more like a throbbing behind my eyes that faded if I turned in the direction of the portal's location.

I didn't question my instinct. I was made guardian since opening the door. _Now I must obey its call_, I thought bitterly. _Like following the sound of a dog whistle_.

Strangely, no one stopped me as I slipped through the doors of Kamael's huge mansion. Darius wouldn't come home hopefully until shortly before dawn. Kamael's vampire lackeys were all laid-back and well-mannered, and I knew I could trust them to keep Darius in ignorance concerning my whereabouts - at least for a little while.

The vault was located in yet another vampire-guarded mansion. This was the vault where the door was kept, its silent and unmoving wall still as featureless as ever, save for the magical signs that hovered around it. I still bore the tattoo in my palm that had been one of Darius's first gleeful tasks - branded there when there had to be a way of letting the vampires know what I was.

Strangely enough, it resembled a sign that could have been something from one of my spell books, but I couldn't be sure. It looked like a pair of wings, jagged lines, and a circle in the center.

_There should have been vampires here to save my hand at_, I thought to myself. _Maybe they're on a Blood break._

Once I was inside, there were strangely no vampires. This was the point where I would have shown the tattoo on my stomach of the same sign, the circular part encasing my navel lovingly. Once again there was no one there.

Again, there was no one there. But my headache was gone. I was also strangely disappointed to not have made use of the tattooes that Darius loved to inflict upon me. He was not a gentle artist, nor did he seem to particular care if he caused me pain. I stepped into the stone room again. It was just as before, besides there being the braziers. There were rectangular bar lights from the metal ceiling, which was considerably lower than the original room had been and contrasted grotesquely with the limestone walls.

I treaded toward the wall where the portal had been. The nearer I crept, the hotter it became. The air was practically humming with arcane magic, but there was not a soul to be found. Where in the hell were Kamael's vampire guards?

Before I could touch the wall, there was another pain in my mind and there was no doubt who it was. My master's hands closed around my shirt and threw me back against the wall with unchecked force. I blacked out for seconds only, because when I came to he was just bending down to jerk me to my feet.

"Why else would you be here other than to find a way to get through the door?" Darius whispered harshly. "Luckily I know your ideas well enough to believe you would try such a thing." He smelled like blood, and his breath haunted me with its meat-like odor.

I was ready for my punishment. Even if I had the breath to try my guardian-of-the-door argument, he wouldn't have given me a chance. He was very eager to get me home and start the torture.


	4. Kain 'The Modern World'

Author's Notes: Okay.... as far as Kain will react to pop culture references... And I am NOT sure he is surprised by much in his own world... I'm not sure how exactly he should react to these things but in a way that might make sense. In fact, this'll probably be really, really hard. Don't hurt me much.

Pinkyfuzzyone: I'm well aware that Amanda will just be inconsolable when she finds out what happened to little old Razzy! I feel bad and I am loathe to write it, but that's what makes it so fun. I'm eager to get to it... and don't worry about Kain being all evil and egomaniac or anything. In my universe, I'm making him a little kinder and a little more patient than he has been of late.

Solain Rhyo: Thank you for your gracious and kind words! You've given me more motivation!!! Thank you very much and expect more chapters yet!!

--_Kain_--

Once I oriented myself, I was quite at peace going through the portal. My sole concern was whether or not I would be able to return. I would only know once I arrived. Besides, I was eager to think about something else for awhile. Perhaps I would discover another key to the survival of Nosgoth along the journey.

I stepped beyond when the last of vertigo released me. I immediately drew the Reaver again, scenting vampires almost within my immediate presence. There was a dark blotch on the floor nearby, old blood, and symbols across the portal that I could read clearly.

When I percieved that the room was actually empty, I turned to examine them more closely.

"In the name of our One Father, Caine--" he murmured, pausing at the name. "--do we raise this Door to Heaven."

I wrinkled my nose. Perhaps they were mistaken, these so-called 'sons' of mine, but Nosgoth had ceased to be anything resembling heaven several centuries ago - unless I had stepped into the past once more. How they could have raised a portal was beyond me, and my name was not known to the early winged Vampires of my time. It wasn't even spelled correctly. Perhaps my meddling had reached farther back into history than I could ever imagined. Still, it was worth a look to see what Raziel had to show me when he'd forced me into this "Door to Heaven".

I surmised that I had been wrong once I looked up and saw that there was light, not from fire, or from the cold fires of my race that lasted for years, but from the most alien rectangular panels - for I could only describe them as such. I stared at them until my eyes ached, my pupils shrinking to their smallest. I blinked, and examined the walls. They 'appeared' old. But the ceiling was gleaming like polished steel - and those infernal panels!

The vampires' scent was fresher. I wrinkled my nose and kept the Reaver at hand, creeping forward on silent clawed feet. The door before me was of the same metal, but no handle or switch presented itself to me as a solution to opening it.

I must have examined the room from top to bottom, and even poked the Reaver at one of the glowing panels experimentally to no avail. I turned to the portal again, and cursed to find it had closed on me.

"Great trickery, Hylden filth," I growled to the walls, frustration welling up in me. "To have trapped me in this insane little room with no way out. How brave of you, fools. You cannot kill your sworn enemy, so you lock him in a cage and throw away the key!"

Woe to me. The walls did not answer. And while I paced the room in agitation, feeling all the time the burning hunger beginning to worm its way into my veins, I noticed the walls. They were soft, like rocks close to water in Nosgoth. I raked my claw against one near the unmoving door and found my claws leave a satisfying gash in its grain.

Not only that, there was a grate above that I hadn't noticed before. There were no lights, and in being blinded by them I failed to see it. But it was there, and close enough to the wall for me to make an effort to jump to it. So, dusting off my claws, I then sank them into the wall and began to climb.

The tunnel was narrow and barely large enough for my tall form to squirm through. It was infuriatingly difficult to keep quiet, but I would realize soon that after crossing some sorcery, it would have been useless to bother. A dozen solid green lines crossed my path several paces before, and after the experiment of passing my claw quickly before one that they would not harm me, I moved on. This careless action alone alerted the vampire fledgeling guards to my presence.

I reached another grate in the floor. I sank my claws into it and pulled hard. It gave without making a complaint, fortunately, for I knew that the vampires that I sensed were in this room. Too bad for them, for I was stronger, faster, smarter - and I was famished.

I saw them turn in my direction. I made no sound on the brown and red marble floor and leapt - only to find a dozen stings explode all over my skin. I roared, swinging the Reaver with a terrible vengeance. It did not occur to me who these vampires were, or who had Sired them - I only knew my Thirst, over which my role as Scion of Balance apparently had no effect.

They're weapons puzzled me, but I didn't linger. I slid into their midst and slashed at the main center of them. I severed one of them in half, and the others, well, they were gouting blood for their pains. The remaining stragglers had no time to attack, or maybe their strange little objects they felt were weapons had failed them. In either case, I moved among the survivors and drained them with a sharp sense of disappointment. I had hoped for better sport in such a well-maintained enviroment.

Sated from the feast, I examined my wounds seconds before they closed. Then I turned and saw nearly three times more of these strange kindred than I had seen before. I was hopelessly out-numbered. I would have suffered greatly if my wits had completely left me, but I was running through the nearest door I saw before I had a chance to see their faces clearly.

The corridor was painfully bright and apparently new. More of the blinding lit panels above illuminated my path. Everything seemed so immaculate and clean, and the smell of some chemical burned my nose. Later I would realize it was poison gas as an attempt to slow me down. I reached a final door, and threw it open with one solid blow. It gave with a brief metal cry before I emerged into an unfamiliar, terrifying darkness.

It was a city more vast than any I'd seen before - greater even than Meridian. It encroached even on the shores of an unknown sea, which reflected the crisp new moon. But there were still lights, and all of them captured my attention. It was like gazing into a city of starlight, blazing and magnificent, stretching on and making the sky itself glow. I stood gasping for breath although I didn't need it at all.

"Where in Hell have you taken me, Raziel?" I breathed, overcoming my initial shock Something about this city was exhilirating, frightening - and new. It instilled within me a tormenting desire to explore more, every nook and cranny--

There was a scream from the shadows. It was a very plaintive, distinct "No!" which was wrangled from a choking throat, unmistakably feminine. I followed it on a whim. I was lost; what else could I do? Or perhaps Raziel was speaking to me from the grave - pardon, the sword - bading me to follow the voice from the darkness.

The noisy pair led me on a merry chase, and although I was close to them the vampire was apparently too occupied with trying to keep his human slave silent. She was crying hysterically, and each sharp crack broke the silence of the night louder than her crying did. She was silent after awhile and while I followed, I began to feel a distinct loathing for her tormentor. Whatever she had done hardly deserved the torment she was being given, and even a smart fool wouldn't openly abuse her even in full darkness.

I fell away and followed at a more leisurely pace. My eyes were drawn to the perfect spans of glass that filled the long windows of shops and stores. I had seen a hundred houses already and there were millions more for miles around. I reminded myself coldly to pay attention, so I would not get lost.

In the end, I did become disoriented and more than a little confused. The streets sloped and rose like an eddying ocean of hardened black tar. One shadow looked almost exactly the same as the next. I cursed my poor fortune and began backtracking. I would follow this foolhardy idiot into oblivion, for I followed the comforting whisper of Raziel from the sword, encouraging me. He knew where he was going, perhaps better than I did. He had a way of knowing things that I did not.

--Author's Notes--

Author's Notes: I'm sure I'm not the only human who finds those 'panels' really, really annoying. They're the main reason I get headaches in school is those goddamn lights. If they'd just turn them OFF sometimes, that would be great!

Some explanations are in order!!! Those "green light things" laser-sensitive lights triggered an alarm... that was why Kain was fighting off a million more vampires than I had originally planned. This explains the reasons why the portal was 'hot' and why there were absolutely no vampires to be found when Amanda came to the chamber - they were all chasing after Kain. I hope this has helped you understand my reasoning.


	5. Amanda 'Three Days'

Author's Notes: Okay... This'll up the rating of the story a lot, considering it's my first attempt at writing what I may begin to believe is total, outright bloodletting of the worst degree. I hope you don't mind if it Darius becomes the most hateful individual in the history of vampirism.

--_Amanda_--

I knew the moment he had me in his grasp that it was a long time coming before I could escape it. Darius was choking me as he dragged me along the stone streets, the heat of day rising from the earth and stifling my breath even further. It was useless to struggle, but I did it anyway. I refused to let him have his way without some sort of fight. I managed to choke out a scream, but I was rewarded by a sharp and scarring slap. His nails opened up my cheek and left it bleeding.

Darius bent close, stopping in the darkness as he kissed my mouth chastely, trailing his cold lips to the trickling gashes in my face. He licked them, working his tongue into them and purring all the more. His tongue made the slashes sting so much that I whined, straining to get my head away from that mouth.

"Stop it," I hissed, pushing my hands against his face, pulling on his hair. He was not phased in the least.

"I will stop nothing, my girl," he murmured, capturing my gaze and holding it like a python in its coils. I felt like the rodent, and he the snake. "And you must learn to obey."

I moaned as the pain siphoned through my mind, like rusted razors slowly sawing back and forth against my brain tissue. The next moment we were flying with vampire speed through the streets until we reached our chambers. The balcony doors slammed shut behind us. Before I knew what exactly had happened, he had thrown me to the floor and brought out the object of most of my terrors.

It was a simple object, but it wrought the results he desired, and more - it was the beginning and the end of all my suffering whenever I had done anything to so much as 'spark' his rage. The back of my head stung as he pulled me slightly upright, my legs tangled together. He brought the whip over my back with little hesitation.

He tore at my shirt, laying my back bare, even ripping whatever else was in its way. My skin was burning and I felt hot welts breaking open all over my back, and reopening old ones all over again. I cowered on the floor like an animal, lacking the willpower to move myself out of the way. I was worthless human body filth to him, and I felt like it just then. It didn't matter to him how much I bled, nor how much I cried. He would never be satisfied because of his insane infatuation with causing me pain.

He was momentarily satisfied before I passed out. With my face bleeding and my back covered with what felt like thirty pounds of smoldering hot coals, I looked up through my puffy eyes and glared with every ounce of my remaining hatred. My mind was roaring like waterfalls were falling inside of it with voices rising and falling like undulating souls of the dead.

Darius pulled me to my feet with very little ceremony. He needn't tell me what was coming next; I knew. We crept into the darkening halls of the inner sanctum. The walls themselves were constructed of harsh, wet stone that stank like death and sometimes when I stepped I almost slipped on something slick on the floor.

The stagnant reek of dying flesh hit my nostrils. I gagged, and spit something unpleasant that came up from my evening meal, but Darius was yanking me to the nearest available wall which was hanging with chains. He shoved me up against them and my bare back with its bleeding welts were forced to grind right into the dirt, muck, and grime that covered it - along with who knew what else. The agony was making me nauseated.

"Perhaps three nights here will teach you the kind of humble obedience I require from a little worthless whore like you," he hissed, roughly tightening the chains and pulling on the main length, yanking me so far up the wall that I was barely even touching the floor.

The doorway we had come through was unceremoniously shut. I was left to the pain of his passing and the feeling of things crawling across the broken skin of my back.

"No," I whimpered, lifting my legs and pushing myself away from the wall as best as I could. "Please...!"

I gasped, sinking back against the wall and moaning quietly. Three days. Darius would do something like that. He hadn't done anything as long as three days before. I'd been left for a whole day, and that was bearable. But this...

I chewed my lip. If he wanted me to suffer, that was too bad - I had enough magic in me to at least get myself healed to some degree. I closed my eyes, suppressing a wild array of stabbing pains in my temples as he tormented me just for fun until he finally sought other things to amuse himself. Once I gained some concentration, I spoke in a low, quailing voice the words that poured warmth and some comfort through me.

The lash marks on my back were not safe, but they were covered. Any harsh movements would have them torn open again if the stone behind me happened to rip them up. My shirt was slipping, and luckily my garment under that was still mostly intact enough to stay secure.

Three days.

Sometimes I started to try to sing. Taking the breath necessary proved difficult without shifting my ribs too much. So I sang under my breath, staring at my feet, and feeling all the while my arms burning. I was used to that sensation as the first time I was locked down here. The day drew on, and very soon I began to lose feeling in my hands from the circulation loss.

The singing eventually grew dull. I had sung all the songs I could remember, and even hummed made-up tunes that sounded right. But my voice was failing and I was thirsty, not for blood but for water - this led me to the time Raziel had told me how vampires in his world were burned by water as if by acid. And then I was crying a little again, trying to keep my motions still as I sobbed.

Was it down to two days now? Or still three? I couldn't see anything. But I could hear quite plainly the voice inside my mind. He was speaking to me, and I could have staked my life that it was 'him'... Raziel. Telling me everything would be fine. I wanted the voice to shut up... but I knew it was the one thing struggling to keep my sanity intact now.

It was slipping. I felt as if centuries were slowly passing and I was slowly wasting away. I didn't really fall asleep, ever; once in awhile I would realize I was unconscious and snap myself awake again, hoping that Darius will have been merciful for once and took me down early. But my nightmare continued without a conceivable end.

I began to see things. Just out of my vision, maddeningly close. I thought that they were touching me, trying to sink their rotting vampire teeth into me... the moment I opened my mouth to scream, the horrible wraiths vanished and the voice of Raziel seemed even farther away than ever. I started to whimper, pulling on the chains. I fought the undeniable truth. I heard a cat yowling from somewhere, yowling and crowing its agony. I imagined it writhing on the floor and foaming at the mouth, its eyes rolled back while its unnaturally long teeth gnashed and clipped together as its gnawed on its front paw.

I was slipping into the darkness, and worse yet was the thing I couldn't prevent, the one thing I feared the most.

I was simply going insane.

Author's Notes: I love cats. I hate to see them suffer. I've actually had nightmares where there are sick, dying cats everywhere and not a damn thing I could do. It's not a pretty sight, especially when my mind just turns against me like that.

Don't be afraid for Amanda's sanity. I think it should be restored once Kain jumps onto the scene. Don't worry; be happy. Thanks for being so patient!!


	6. Kain 'The Punishment of the Punisher'

Author's Notes: Forgive me if Kain appears a little less enthralled by his surroundings. He's not immune to daylight, which is fully functional as we know so well in the light of day... I have decided for now that he still has SOME of his vampiric weaknesses. It wouldn't do to stick him in the Mediterranean and have him combust in water, now would it?

Furthermore, I think this is my favorite chapter so far. I also happened to fix a ton of issues that Smoke brought up... once more, it's weird statements about building up slowly beginning to build up somewhere, that just makes editing so funny. It's okay to make mistakes! I actually laughed for a few minutes after reading that... I totally, totally fixed it though. It's all better now. Yeah.

--_Kain_--

It was difficult tracking the path, which inevitably led me to the mansion. It was impressive, and as modern as any building I had seen thus far but it held the same old style charm that I had begun to appreciate about this city. Many of its older structures remained intact for reasons unknown to me. All of them were made of the same stony substance that seemed so abundant.

It was mostly white, blasted by the salty ocean storms that sometimes came roaring from the sea. Luckily it would not rain, for I didn't wish to test my luck as far as water was concerned. The windows were all lit, and daylight was only a few hours away. I knew that it would not truly harm me, but it was as if I was fledgeling again. It wouldn't harm me unless I stayed out till too long.

The moment I had infiltrated a carelessly unguarded terrace by bat-flight, I was struck by the scent of blood that simply filled this room. My thirst was sated, but the scent stirred my hunger a little like the lingering caress of a long-missed lover. The blood-scent had trailed from the middle of an alley and continued boldly to the mansion.

The room was well-made, for its blatant lack of security. I stood in the midst of history, seeing the soft plush pillows and the softly glowing lamps. There were creatures in this world, then, who disliked artificial light as much as I did. I bared my teeth, moving slowly to the door. This place was crawling with my kind, and it was not lost on me that I should take care to avoid notice.

I followed a long corridor, lined with paintings and portraits of the vampires who reigned. I recognized none of them, but all appeared to retain their human appearances. None of them were winged. Some had dark, black wavy hair, or straight and fair-haired with sharp eyes and harsh faces that seemed filled with immortality's curse. The floor was wood, and I had determined that it would creak without careful movements. I crept cautiously, listening and following until I heard voices.

I crept along the wall until I rounded a corner, and before me sprawled another vestige, overlooking a pair of arching stairways that led down into a room purely for the defining nature of comfort. The carpet was wine red, the chairs made of the softest leather and the end-tables made of gleaming mahogany that screamed of near perfection. The lights were also of the softer nature, easier on my eyes.

One vampire was standing, wearing a dark finely tailored leather coat, with straight pale hair and eyes like the depths of a virgin midnight. His voice poured into my ears, reminding me of the distant crash of water on stone, rising and falling as he eloquently raged against the younger vampire seated in the chair directly in front of him.

"You have fallen lower than I could have possibly imagined, Darius!" the standing vampire said. Kain was pleased to see the other shrink into his chair and avoid his gaze. From this vantage point, they couldn't see him if they looked.

"You are relentless, blood-thirsty -- don't mistake me for being without a heart, for I too have suffered from Sethys' death... but can you not move on with your existence! I have heard her scream as the shadow of death falls over her too many times in the night to spend it peacefully! You have tortured her soul for two years, and worse yet you insist on allowing her to live longer than I would ever have!"

Boldness blossomed in the younger vampire's heart. "She is mine; you yourself had given her to me, and told me specifically that I could do so! And now you berate me for doing just as you allowed, as if you had a heart!"

"I have a heart, or something like it - and it tells me that you are no son of mine that favors one slave and subjects her to every agony imaginable and refuses to give her the mercy of death. I cannot take any more of it, especially needless punishment towards the guardian of the portal! If you don't put an end to it, I shall do it for you, or you can take your petty infatuation with her pain with you!"

When the youth did not reply, the elder rounded on him and leaned close, subduing any further words with a choking grip on his throat. "Where is she?" he purred.

"In... the dungeon... up the stairs, the dark door... But...father, you needn't take care of it... I will... when her sentence is finished, I will finish her."

"Swear it, by the damned blood in your veins, swear it!" The elder was losing patience, and it showed when it became more difficult for him to speak.

"I swear on the blood of Caine, I will release her!" he cried, before sagging against the couch.

I couldn't help but show pleasure at this. I rarely allowed myself to become as helpless to my anger as this man. Still, it was alarming to realize that whoever this elder was, he was merciful and not as overrun with undaunted cruelty as his errant child. I slipped away from the stairs. This girl... under the thrall of Darius was the appointed guardian of the portal; there was no doubt it had to be the same portal that had brought me hurtling into this frightful place.

His brother, Sethys, whoever he may have been had already been killed. Something told me I had yet to uncover the entire story, but the first thing I must do is unleash the woman. If she was in thrall, there was no telling how close she was to madness and I hoped that I was not too late.

I found no opposition. I heard more voices talking, laughter that was quite normal, but I wanted this 'dark door' that Darius spoke of. I found it almost instantly, and it was no mystery why it was so named.

It was huge, metal. It would be a chore opening it, but I was not newly fledged. Apparently Darius had no trouble if he frequented this place so often.

I pulled open the door, and grimaced at the horrible groaning sound it made. It closed behind me with a metal clank. I found myself revolted against the stench that seemed to penetrate the very walls. Filth had collected in the corners, and human and vampiric refuse filled every niche that was available.

I opened every door. Corpses lined the walls. Rat-eaten skeletons were chained against the walls. It reminded me of the plentiful horde I had found in Vorador's mansion in Termagent Forest, but it seemed that these carefully concealed stash had been forgotten, and left to rot.

It was silent, and each room found a similar fate for another corpse. Torch sconces lined the walls, lighting my way. Then, suddenly, I heard a sound somewhere in between a cry and a moan. I pressed close to the last door, the one at the end of this dark and crowded little corridor. I threw it open. The stench of fever and insanity nearly propelled me backwards.

The girl was already in a wretched state. I had no clue how long she had been hanging, but it couldn't have been a day yet. Still...

I approached cautiously. She hardly saw me. My hopes faltered and I considered doing those vampires both a favor and destroying her... No. She had information and power; I needed both badly.

I lifted her face carefully with my claw. She jarred awake and eyed me, turning her face away from me. Slightly wavy locks of brown bronze hair tumbled with the motion and contrasted sharply against her pale white flesh. Her throat bulged underneath a velvet black collar that shielded it from view. Her blood rushed with the sudden quickening of her mortal heart. Her parched lips parted, and I could see fresh slashes of pink on her cheek, scarred over but smelling fresh. Other than her obvious pains, she was strangely beautiful.

"Speak," I commanded. "If you can."

She swallowed again, as if uncertain herself is she understood. Then, with very little else to preoccupy her, she whispered something that highly confused me. "S-Someone... better kill that... goddamn cat..." She fixed her hazel eyes on mine and sucked in her breath. "Kill the cat. Don't eat me."

I laughed. It was a harsh, broken sound that seemed alien to me. "Well...Perhaps I should speak more specifically. Speak 'sense', woman."

She didn't respond easily then. After a few struggling moments she looked me in the eyes and narrowed her own. "Your eyes... vampire?"

"Yes."

"Yellow... like the sun." She strained against the chains and stared at me with wide eyes, invoked with fear. "You letting me down? Did Darius...?" Words failed her. I stepped away, and withdrew the Reaver. It instantly blazed, the against the hilt blazing with the smoking green spilling from the sockets. The human girl gasped and stared at the sword as if it was the source of her salvation. I held the curving blade against her throat.

"Darius will die for his transgression. As for you, I want to hear you ally yourself to me, or breathe your last these few moments." I waited. I would say my heart had skipped a beat, but since I had none it would be a moot point.

She answered willingly enough. "I, Amanda the witch girl, swear my undying loyalty...to.... to..."

"...Kain," I finished quietly. "Say it. Say it!"

"K...Kain!" Her eyes showed a hesitation, an inward thought that was quickly swallowed in the madness that was devouring her. I sheathed the Reaver at last, and reached, lowering the chain. She all but fell with lack of strength. I bent and quickly removed the shackles, before picking her up. She looked as if she were made of broken branches.

_Is she bloody malnourished? _I hissed as she clung to me. Her shirt looked like the remnants of Raziel's ruined wings. I ridded her of it and quickly doffed my clan cape with the Master's Symbol on it and draped it around her shoulders. It could have wrapped around her slender frame three-fold.

I left the place of death with her. Now that I was familiar with this mansion's hallways, it would be an easy task to get away if I could just avoid attracting unwanted attention. Unfortunately, my luck had ended here. I was met by Darius himself, unarmed but not helpless. Still, if his Sire came to call, I would be in for a greater challenge than I was willing to face at this moment - especially with this girl.

Darius's eyes blazed with the infamous yellow of the vampires of 'my' world. He was undoubtedly angry, but collected. His question was anticipated and I answered heartily, kneeling on the floor and setting her down. I placed myself in his way, reaching to draw the Reaver.

"I'm taking this human off your hands."

Apparently Darius found me as frightening as I had thought myself to appear to those who had not met me. Certainly, I had a gaping hole in my chest where the Heart of Darkness had once been was proof enough that I was beyond his breed of the unnatural.

"She's mine, you monstrous son of a bitch," Darius replied simply. "And I say you can't take her from me."

"The girl has claimed otherwise," I insisted smoothly. "If you would but lend her some sanity and comfort, she'll explain everything. Besides... I need her more than you do. You give her pain without end; I will show her mercy."

Darius hissed, baring his fangs. I only had but a moment, and I had to make it count. I had no time to dance about this fight, and so I flew at him with every ounce of precision in me. Fueled by unbridled bloodlust, I swung the Reaver, bading Raziel's spirit to take his soul quickly. Darius leapt backwards with a startled snarl, but I continued forward, following his path with a well-delivered lunge that saw Darius impaled and gurgling from its end.

"Thank you, old friend," I whispered to Raziel as I drew the foolhardy youngster closer, reaching to pull him by his jacket. I could hear his startled heart pounding unevenly, feel it throb haltingly under my claws as I squeezed my hand around his throat. I pulled the blade free and allowed myself to finally quiet his throbbing jugular. I could have broken this bastard in two.

Vampire blood filled me. I was in a swoon that lasted for moments even as I fled the mansion with the girl. Its taste was unique, and hinted at a slight unpleasant taint that I didn't mind. I drained him, leaving him with enough to suffer with gut-twisting, maddening bloodlust before he might die. And I made sure he would die, for Raziel had already done the trick. He, too, had fed _quite_ well.

--Author's Notes--

Author's Notes: A very long chapter... but I figured if I was going to fit everything in here, I'd have to compensate and make it really long. I don't mind it, only that I tried to make it as sustaining as possible. I hope it didn't die for too many of you toward the middle.


	7. Duo 'Old Wounds and New'

Author's Notes: Yawns ...Whoa. I need food.... Hungry..

--_Amanda_--

The vampire - I should say 'creature' because he looked nothing like any vampire I had ever seen before - ran like the wind, sliding on the floor on two-clawed feet before taking a leap out of the nearest window. The glass broke apart like the stars, and the sound it made was like a car accident. I'd never seen a car accident in my life personally, but having that noise so close was as if the whole roof was coming down on top of me.

The night swelled with the underlying throb of life. Even though I felt as if my life was slipping in and out of my grasp, I was confident I would live... and if my vision faltered, it would focus again and I was frightfully aware of how fast we were really going. Still, it was a thrill-ride that I enjoyed heartily, and even stifled a crazy little giggle against the inside of the cape that Kain had worn.

I reached my hands out to squeeze his arm tightly. My body was still wracked by severe chills and not everything was clear. I was going to be sick, though, and Kain would be the one to suffer with me if he didn't express some understanding.

"Stop," I moaned quietly. "Please."

Wherever we were, it was near one of those abandoned buildings that I saw so often, far from the cultural center of things. He was wise to avoid the heartbeats of the sleeping humans. He entered a quiet, stone-enclosed courtyard and set me down. There were broken angel statuettes all around us, mounted on the walls, facing outward as if warding off the evils of the devil. I could smell the Mediterranean and it was the most beautiful thing to assault my senses since... since flowers.

I felt better the longer I was still. He stood some distance away, arms crossed, or sometimes I would glance and find him looking at me curiously. Most times he was looking at his claws, scraping away something that was sticking to it, or coming off.

"Are you well enough to continue?" he asked rather impatiently. He knelt close and I could see the glow in his eyes. They were eerily beautiful.

"I don't think I'll be able... to go anywhere." I smiled, tightening the clan cloak around me.

"Don't fret, then. I've been looking at this house and it seems a suitable haven," he replied curtly before lifting me up again. I squeaked and moaned because, comfortable and warm as his cloak was, I began to regret not trying to heal myself a second time. My wounds were opening and I could feel the hardening blood stick and then break off from the fabric repeatedly.

Only one room in the entire house seemed to remain livable. There was an old mattress, and Kain dragged it into the room and dropped it onto the floor as if it were a pillow instead of a full-size mattress. The sheets were clean enough, but very dusty. I sneezed, earning me a strange look from Kain who probably never heard a sneeze in a long time.

The bed was a blessing, even if it was old and dusty and full of lumps. I collapsed into it, barely able to keep my eyes open. I fell asleep instantly

--_Kain_--

I was waiting for her to awaken. This room was the best one in the dilipidated building, and I stayed quietly in a corner as the sunlight sweeped in a slow arc over the floor. The hours passed, and I measured its time with more impatience than I was prepared to admit. After traversing through time, I had forgotten to respect its value. The dusk couldn't have fallen soon enough for me.

Around twilight, the young woman stirred and stared at me for several moments. I was crouching next to the mattress, reaching out to touch her hand when she withdrew it sharply, hissing at me. She was like a little kitten, trying to squirm away. I had very little to protect her back with. When I'd seen the true depth of her pain, the scars ripping open along her back were like long strings of volcanoes, her blood seeping out. I had yet to even see what lay underneath her collar.

"I'm not going to hurt you," I murmured quietly, and infused every word with as much vampiric inflection as I could. She may have been blood-bonded, but I still had power over her. She relaxed almost instantly, long enough for my talons to slide the sheet from her back.

Her ruptured skin was dry. Caked blood had already stained the sheets beyond cleansing. I bared my teeth at the fresh scent that roiled from her. Sickness... It reminded me of Nosgoth in its worse times, when humans seemed afflicted by a different plague every other decade.

"Am I gonna die, doc?" she murmured, muffled by blanket.

"Of course not," I insisted, resting my hand carefully on her shoulder. "_I_ won't let you."

I split a vein in my wrist with one swift bite. There was some fascination of watching my blood bubble and hiss through my veins, powered by some unimaginable force. I had no heart to run blood through my blackened veins. The wound knitted quickly before my eyes while I pondered if I still had the power to heal with my blood, but it was worth a try. I continued to speak quietly, using every bit of the blood in my voice I could muster to infuse her with comfort.

I slid myself onto the mattress, and then across her legs. "Don't be afraid," I told her calmly, unclasping her last and useless garment. I opened the vein again and held her head down carefully, her eyes wide and brilliant in the twilight.

My vitality was not often given at leisure. It was difficult to keep the blood flowing, but with an effort of will I managed to force the wound to remain. I felt my own strength draining... but I had fed well the night before and knew I wouldn't have to for awhile. I watched, gnawing on my lower lip, as the dark liquid seeped and flooded into each crude, crimson valley. I watched as the shadow of my blood spread, pooling in the middle of her back. She started to squirm underneath me and a low-pitched moan of discomfort escaped from her lips.

I caressed her hair again, and she was still.

Apparently it was working. My now distinctly vampire blood was leaving traces of healing across her back. The scars would fade with time, although the knitted tissue would remain as a cold reminder of her ordeal. I was pleased when the last of them had sealed over, and I let my own wound close.

I slid away, anxious to see how she fared. Perhaps I would finally learn her name.

"Who are you?" I asked.

"Um... Amanda." She still found it difficult to speak. My blood was vanishing into her skin, further influencing her healing. She sat up, holding the blanket and my clan cape around herself. She swallowed and blinked her eyes, rubbing them. I saw something black in the middle of her palm, which she revealed to me, spreading her fingers wide.

"It's my guardian symbol," she explained to me. I snatched her wrist and peered at it closely, a small and astounded gasp bursting out of me.

There was no mistaking it as my own Master's Symbol. I had uncovered the design and took it for my own when I had begun my empire without thinking further on the subject. She seemed confused and even a little afraid, and tried to pull her hand free.

"Interesting. Give me that." I pulled at my clan cloak and revealed it to her, holding it up for her to see it for herself. It was her turn to gasp, clutching the sheets around her chest tightly.

I pointed a finger accusingly at her face. "You'd best start explaining," I growled, unknowing that the Reaver had begun to glow again. Whatever it was, it would wait. I wanted answers. "Where I am, and who you are... and most importantly, why 'that' is on your hand!"

I was no longer as patient. Disgruntled by my blood loss, I wanted my answers swiftly. She didn't give them as soon as I desired. I towered over her, almost raising my voice. "Answer me!"

"Raziel!" The word sprang out of her mouth. I was almost enraged further; how dare this weak little whore say his name! And then I realized - how could she know it? It wasn't coincidence that the witch, Amanda, had the symbol emblazoned plainly on her palm and knew the name of He who had given me hope.

I realized I was quaking. All that I had feared about this place was beginning to come roaring down around my ears. I knew, though I would not admit, that I still understood absolutely nothing. In my ignorance, and my flamable personality, I would undo my chances to survive and rise to my succession as Scion of Balance. My throat was dry, and all at once I became blissfully numb.

"How do you know that name?" I whispered.

She looked away. I could see the emotions play in her eyes: fear, anger, and shame. "Raziel," she replied softly, uncertain perhaps if I would explode angrily again. "Soul Reaver. I called him from Nosgoth a little over two years ago...but I sent him home."

"Two years ago?"

"Three-hundred and sixty-five days," she insisted, as if I were a dolt. "Two fold. Do..." She struggled, mostly as emotion strained against her throat. "Do you know... him? Tell me you know him, please. Is he okay?"

I nodded to myself. Interesting. Raziel hadn't said a word of this to me. How could I believe her? Ah, but how could I not? It was the Reaver that knocked me through the portal. How good of him to punctuate his quest by leading me to Amanda. It was not lost on me that it was no longer coincidence, but Raziel's will that led me to her.

On a whim, I drew the Soul Reaver. The handle was warm to the touch. I buried it into the wood and let it stand on its own, swaying back and forth. The skull's eyes were glowing, smoking green which drifted slowly down the curving blade and pooled at the floor.

"Say hello to Raziel," I replied, to the human's immeasurable shock.


	8. Amanda 'Truth'

Author's Notes: Hmm!! The night of reckoning is at hand! It is nigh! It is nigh!! Run now, mortals, fear for your souls before Razzy slurps 'em up!!

Lunaticpandora1: Glad to have filled your need for the day!!

Solain Rhyo: Hmm... I hope so! I don't like the next chapter for some reason... the number eight bodes ill omens for me lately.

Laila: And Kain is not a cruel man? My dear, I think you are mistaken... Heehee!

--_Amanda_--

The sword was scarier than Kain was. I gave him his due credit for being ultimately frightful when he was almost yelling at me. Still, seeing the thing smoking and spewing that tangible corona, it was no mystery why I doubted Kain's little introduction. Raziel had hoped to find out the truth, and perhaps if he had to, destroy Kain. I warmed up to his dilemma, which soon was forgotten underneath all the troubles I went through to find a way for him to get home.

I shook myself and tightened my hold on the sheets, crossing my arms over my chest. "Is this some kind of fucking joke?" I heard myself ask.

Kain was not impressed. He knelt by the sword, gripping the hilt, finally stopping the blade from swinging like a metronome, back and forth. "I do not jest lightly. I will tell you the truth, and whether or not you take it to heart is not in my jurisdiction. I tell you, Raziel lives inside this sword and has been this way for nearly three moons."

Before I could reason with my emotions, I threw myself at him. I was overcome by a silent storm of rage that until now had been beyond my notice. I was careless, and let the sheet fall away from me as I attacked him. We went tumbling across the dusty floor, and I was unceremoniously dumped onto the bed within seconds. I had accomplished approximately jack shit in being angry.

"What precisely are you trying to do?" said Kain, thoroughly amused as he grinned at me.

I turned away, grabbing a pillow. "No harm in trying to vent my anger. In case you haven't noticed, Raziel means... meant... a lot to me."

"It appears we have something in common, then," he replied quietly. The sword remained where it was. My eyes kept going back to it. Kain wasn't lying; but why would Raziel be in that thing? How did it happen? I still didn't quite understand everything Raziel had told me about what he had learned - he really didn't tell me much in the first place.

It occured to me that I did know a little. "Aren't you Raziel's father?" Yes. Raziel had mentioned something about Kain bringing him back to life from corpsehood.

"He told you about me, did he?"

"I take that as a yes."

"He was my firstborn son. He was my best lieutenant and my faithful... servant. I daresay that perhaps we might have been friends at one point."

Could've fooled me. I took a steadying breath. "Well... what do you want from me? What is you need? Do you want to go home? Well, that's easy. We can take the portal back--"

"It closed behind me. I made a few small enemies with the guards of the portal as well..." He made an attempt at looking sheepish. I giggled crazily, covering my mouth before I was wrought with another stabbing pain in my mind. I tried to keep quiet, but it was so difficult... I forgot he was even in the room and erupted into a fit of laughter, broken with sobs. I was scaring myself, but at that moment I didn't care. I was crazy; nothing bothered me anymore.

When I collected my senses again, he had sheathed the Reaver and was staring at me with an impotent look of disgust. I kicked my feet under the blankets and smiled to myself.

My thoughts were disrupted when a voice hooked my attention. I bent my head to listen, and it spoke my name. I recognized Kamael's voice from anywhere.

_Amanda! Where are you? _he demanded harshly, his voice filled with the bubbling, indescribable anguish of a man who had lost his child. _Did you know that your master is lying dead on the floor of my estate!?_

My eyes snapped over to Kain. "You killed Darius?"

He looked smug. "Of course. How could I let him live?"

"Then I'm pretty much more dead than I was when he damned me with his blood," I murmured, rubbing my face. "I am -- was -- in his thrall. But he hasn't... given me his blood for almost a month and it's almost time for his usual feeding. I'll lose my mind if I don't get it."

The vampire sighed. He seemed more annoyed than concerned. Kamael continued to speak to me, using what science-fiction freaks called 'telepathy.'

_I don't know how you escaped, but trust me, my heart, you will be found and destroyed on sight! _I know he harbored very little love for me, and he only cared only about the comfort he lost when I hollered in agony. But still, it hurt to know that I had lost the one vampire I could openly talk to about my problems even if he always blamed my troubles on me.

Kain tensed suddenly. I watched him, opening my mouth to speak before he shushed me. He crept to the window and pressed his back against the wall, staring with cat-yellow eyes into the stillness of the growing night. Then he crouched onto the floor, peering over the edge of the dirt-stained window sill with slowly widening eyes. He reminded me of a cat, slowly preparing himself for a launching attack. I stayed silent, watching his feet shift on the ground noiselessly when, less than a second later, he vanished completely.

I heard scuffling feet on the gravel, then a crunch. Gurgling as the intruder submitted to Kain's powerful bite. I tried not to listen as he fed, but it was so hard not to because the attack was so close to the window. Finally the body dropped, and Kain returned from where he went out. A shirt and a jacket was in hand, and while the Reaver was still close to me, I wished he would take it away. I still didn't want to believe that Raziel was trapped inside a sword.

He dropped the clothes onto my head. I complained at him while I turned my back and slipped the shirt on, and then dove my hands into the arms of the jacket. It didn't feel right to be wearing the clothes of a dead man.

"Was he a vampire?" I asked quietly, suddenly a little worried that he'd gone and killed his first human in the modern world.

Kain nodded, to my relief.

I stood up, with some effort. My head immediately fell like a skull full with cotton instead of brains. I sat down again for awhile, staring at my boots and feeling immensely sick to my stomach. I tried it again and I walked toward him as he stood by the window. I leaned in the windowsill, and saw that the vampire's body had already crumbled into nothing. I sighed, listening to Kain pull the Reaver out of the floor with a dull 'thunk'. He sheathed it and I was relieved.

"Now where to?" I mumbled quietly, my eyes aching as a tear rolled down my cheek. I was once again fighting with my heart against the truth, railing away that it wasn't true. I would see Raziel again. He would no longer be just a voice in my mind, whispering to me. Loving me.

I started to cry.

--_Kain_--

I heard mortals crying before. I have seen it when they lie helpless in the claws of death. Perhaps it would have been more merciful to destroy her. Before I could raise a talon to berate or perhaps comfort, she was wiping at her face in a sudden burst of agitation.

"Stupid me," she growled. "Crying. Jesus. All I do is cry, like the whole world is a goddamn funeral procession. I even told Raziel, 'You know what, I cry too damn much.' I don't remember if he agreed with me or not."

I hesitated, before speaking. "He would have said that you cry as much as you need to. No more and no less. He was ...very valiant, and true unto himself to the end."

Amanda looked up at me, her expression unreadable. Then she looked past me at the Soul Reaver and sighed. "Well... he probably wouldn't have been any other way but himself." She dusted her pants off and walked toward the door. "We'd better find a way back into that room."

I nodded as I fixed my Clan symbol around my shoulder again, in its rightful place. I didn't expect to go home this very night, but we had a full night of adventure ahead of us. The best adventures last for a long time.

--Author's Notes--

So... it's not precisely the best. In fact, I really hate this chapter. You get your really good ones (chapter 6) then you're really crappy ones.. this one. I don't know what it is... it's just there... but I really hate it... Somehow... -spasms- They just aren't interacting right...


	9. Duo 'Death'

Author's Notes: I had a really, really crappy day today. But this isn't my LiveJournal... and I won't go into the gory details, but in other words... here's my writing. Heh. Enjoy.

pinkfuzzyone: Thankies for appreciatin' the story! You're a doll!!

Solain Rhyo: Yes...I know, it was a little short and lacking in description but that's why I said I didn't like it. I just wanted it to finish as quickly as possible so I could get to Kain's REAL nature.

LunaticPandora1: Yes, I thought so, too. She's still a silly human, for all her bravado...

--Kain--

The night was blessedly cool. I tasted the moisture in the sweetened air and there was a formidable breeze blowing in, and I heard the distant snapping of fabric, popping and crackling now and then as the air swelled around me. We wandered into the village area, very few lights to guide our way but the strange dim lights from above. Sometimes the streets were paved with the black stone, which smelled something terrible, let me assure you. At other times, the roads which we passed were made of dirt, solidly packed, with thick patches of grass that grew and sparkled with dew.

I had a good feeling about this place, no matter how larger-than-life it was. Never had I seen so many doors. I felt, swallowed in the ambient noise of it all, I was walking through a surreal dream from which I might soon awaken.

I heard music, and a harsh hissing sound. Amanda stopped, obviously hearing it also. I was helping her along, because she was still slightly weak and the pace she set was excruciatingly slow. I wanted to return, slightly fearful of this place despite my lack of injuries sustained.

"It's a radio," she whispered. "It transmits music and sound. But sometimes it doesn't get through so good and it sounds like that. Scratchy. Perverted. Listen." She bobbed her head slightly, and I have to say that I almost caught the beat that she was listening to.

But she was walking away again, leaning against the wall and singing softly. I followed her again, the whole while realizing my fate was in the hands of a crazy little girl. How ironic.

"What is this city called?" I asked quietly, my voice edging on the point of whispering.

She didn't answer, but stopped, catching her breath. She looked immensely tiny in that huge jacket. Something, a sound like a pin dropping to the floor. Then there were those unnerving sounds I had hated to hear again, the sound of those moving horrors that seemed to dominate the streets at speeds only a vampire could possibly attain. But they were far away, and the screaming of the machines as they turned corners a distant echo.

"Venice," she said quietly. "It's in a country called Italy, which is in the general vicinity of the continent called Europe. There's six others... but we'll talk about those only if you want to hear about 'em." She pointed to the building, withdrawing from the wall. She stumbled backwards, fingers scraping on the wall of the nearby porch.

I picked her up, shaking my head at her frailness. She clung to my arm and grimaced. "This... sucks. I..." She gasped, enlightened as she touched my hair. "Hey...Hey, you know what? Give me some of your blood!"

"_What?_" I smacked her hand away, lowering my voice. I whispered back at her, harshly. "You can't just ask for it any time you want and expect to get it on command!"

"I can make you," she said, her eyes darkening dangerously. "Remember - I am a witch. I can cast spells on you." She lifted her hand just in front of my eye. I jerked my face away just as a small flame sprouted in the middle of her palm. I gasped a little before I grinned.

"Such talent for a human. I can do better, but now is not the time for that. You want blood?" I hissed, and pointed to one of the guards. "Get it from one of them." Then I was up, dragging her roughly to her feet again as the night deepened. I drew Raziel, pleased to hear him so happy for more death. His hunger was my hunger - I would gladly sate us both.

The guards did not attack me as I so quickly had thought. Some of them had their heads bent, listening keenly to their silent orders while watching me with shining, luminescent eyes. I didn't stand threateningly, but I held the Reaver tightly, waiting in the full light of their white blinding lights with Amanda pressed against my chest, who sheilded her eyes from the lights.

"What do you want?" said a vampire, walking forward. He looked commanding, and although I had respect for them all, I knew that their weapons couldn't kill me. They learned this lesson quickly, because they all carried swords this time.

"I want access to the portal," I told him smoothly. "Or this girl dies."

Amanda stiffened. I wouldn't have dreamed of killing her. Besides, these fools probably didn't know that it was closed and I needed her to work the magic for me. Still, if she didn't know I was serious, it was better that she act scared as long as I had control. I pulled the Reaver closer, pressing the cold blade against her chest. I felt her shake even more, her untamed Whisper whimpering in my mind.

The vampires all shifted nervously. Then the leader turned, motioning for two of the some dozen minor vampires to unlock the doors from here to the chamber. I narrowed my eyes as they finished and bared my fangs. "Now... as for every miserable one of you... _leave._"

"We can't," a vampire said.

"Cannot.. or _will_ not?"

"We answer to Kamael alone," the commander answered. Even I could see that he was trembling, fighting with his words. "And I won't be ordered around by an ugly piece of dog vomit like yourself!"

"Do you want to die for your master... or a poorly projected insult? Which will it be?" I answered quietly, pulling the shaking human off the ground and bending my mouth closer to her throat. I pitied them, my piercing gaze noticing that these weaklings had seemed to withdraw into themselves.

"I will not die a traitor," was the inevitable answer. Vampires began to disappear from the scene. The leader continued, drawing his sword and all too aware that his entourage was vanishing under his nose. "We did as you asked. Now let the mortal go."

Amanda held out her hand as if imploring them desperately to save her. I jerked my face away just as I noticed a tear roll down her cheek, too close for comfort. Then, from her hand, the flame jumped up again and it raced across the short space between the insolent one and ourselves and knocked the sorry piece of trash directly in the chest, sending him flying backwards in a mass of burning flames.

She instantly went very limp, and I was pleased to see the vampire stand again, a screaming, walking pyre. He started running around blindly, shoving the others out of his way and roaring. Somewhere in the licking flames, I saw the tips of his fangs as he began to desperately need the healing blood of a mortal or a vampire. In the confusion I tucked Amanda over my shoulder and ran into the building again, my eyes squinting at the insufferable lighting, feeling my pupils burn and shrink to a painfully small size. I must have looked like a madman to anyone who came across me. The floor loudly announced my passing, the same smooth shining marble under my feet. Then I saw the room with the panels above, and knew that I was there.

I skidded to a halt, slowly crouching as I laid Amanda down on the smooth stones. She was shaking terribly and I was annoyed to not know the reason. Her skin was so translucent that I could see the blue and purple veins trailing along in her arms and hands, and especially the one artery in her throat. I licked my lips, trying to ignore the awful pounding in her heart. It was skipping terribly, like a child with hiccups, and for every beat it took it lost two.

I was beginning to think that this was a terribly misconstrued idea. I watched her tremble and suffer, gasping as though she were a fish out of water. _Give me your blood. _

_I could take her with me, _I thought desperately. _But what in the hells could I do walking around Nosgoth with a fledgling? I have no time for her... and it takes time and energy to make her fully turn._

I fought again, and finally I braced myself, brushing my fingers over the Reaver's blade, consulting him silently. _What should I do?_

I sucked in my breath. I felt the indistinct tremor of power quiver through the metal. It practically jumped at my caress, and I wondered whether or not Raziel was perfectly aware that I was talking to him at all. He had always been my firstborn; a capable aide-de-campe; my second in command, and most importantly my treasured confidant. Would that I hoped that he still kept his sanity inside of that cursed sword, that his personality was still intact.

And for several moments, I swear it on my soul, I heard Raziel speak to me. He said:

"_Embrace her as a vampire. She is your daughter. I entrust her to you now; do not fail me._"

Her eyes were radiant, imploring me to stop the pain that was so visibly tormenting her body. I lifted her again, but this time with a calming sense of sureness and certainty; if Raziel wanted this, then plainly it _must_ be done. She was no longer trembling, but growing quiet and solemn, looking up at me without really seeing. I thought I saw a flicker of something inside of her eyes other than the shining water that dripped gently down her cheek again.

I impressed upon the sensation of calm again, though I hardly needed to. I didn't sense her fear, only the growing emptiness that heralded the coming of death. I held her, the Reaver laying quietly on the floor beside us. I pressed her close as a father would his own child, and I knew then that it would have to be done.

It was either a slow death, or the Curse. I chose the latter option.

I couldn't waste time asking her for her own choice in the matter. Unbuckling my wristguard, I let it sit on the floor nearby and bit into it with an exhilirated shudder. The taste of my own vital fluid was intoxicating and powerful even to me; but this time it would not be for me, or my long-dead sons. I rested her head in the circle of my arm, and let my black, thick blood drip against her lips.

--Author's Notes--

Okay... to clear things up, I was really nervous about how Kain was going to go about this. I studied up on whipping beatings, and yes, you can die from blood loss if you are whipped with a capable enough weapon. And so that is why Amanda is still a little dizzy and weird while she walks off.

And so I came to the Question: Should Kain turn her? Or not? Let her wallow in insanity, and inevitable death, or bring her into his world? I thought about it... and in the midst of my own misforturnes, I figured it would leave openings for a third story... Now, I'm not saying there will be! A very slim possibility of a big 'might'... so... anyway, I shall write more. I'm sorry if Amanda's new life has been too predictable for you readers... I just couldn't decide. But I figured the story might go more smoothly if she was a vampire.


	10. Kain 'Mercy'

--Author's Notes-- An untimely sort of update... this is chapter ten, and it's a lengthy one involving a strange 'encounter'. You'll understand, soon. Sorry for not updating... I have like, almost ten classes right now and all of them hate me. It's enough to make me cry! I don't own Kain or them folks..but I own Amanda. Essentially, she is me with some spice and sugar and everything nice.

--Amanda--

I was floating on the wind made by Death as he breathed. The chilling dismal world around me was like swimming through a shapeless muck that would only give with each cold breath that fell across my face. I cried out repeatedly, fighting it, and struggling to the surface that I knew wasn't there. All of it consisted of a vast nothingness that echoed my cries back to me and made my ears ring painfully. I already knew I was dying, or maybe death had already sunk his teeth into me and sucked my spirit into this purgatory.

What the hell did I know about death anyway?

Raziel knew far more than I. He once told me that the spiritual cycle was commonly referred to as the purifying cycle of life, death, and rebirth that came and went, swelling and capturing each soul in its vast web, entrapping each spirit and giving it a new purpose each time around the wheel.

I knew now that I was dangerously close to this wheel, and that the cold breath that I felt was the turning machinations of destiny, spinning me in and out of its vacuum, but each time I came close I was spun away by a force that had no name. I wanted to let myself go, but each time I was ready the force knocked me back again. It was pain that pulled me back. Pain and... taste.

I found myself writhing in the arms of the unnamed one - I couldn't think of his name - sucking at the sweetest tasting loveliness I had ever had in my life. My resolve caved and I was sobbing like a fool, and then I lost myself in an earth-shattering roar that sounded like the whole universe was angry with me.

I was spinning into oblivion again. I had no power over myself anymore and I was scared, because once I saw that face I realized what was really happening. Then it no longer mattered, and I was staring down the most horrifying thing I had ever seen, and the voice - oh, goddess of the moon, the voice! - shook me to the very core of my being.

_You are mine, and have always been mine. Your will is strong, but mine is stronger. No one comes close and escapes me. Let go your selfish desire to live and give in to me._

What was I supposed to say? I closed my eyes, waiting, but the horrible pull jarred me out of my efforts. _Oh, god, please just give me that sweet substance that takes the pain away..._

_You won't get it. It is gone, forever, gone from me and gone from you. It doesn't belong to you. Your life is ended, just as you wished it. Come._

I tore myself away, terrified but suddenly... enraged. In the darkness, there was very surprisingly light.

I looked down at myself. I wasn't anything special. I was a featureless yet human-shaped blob that glowed faintly but gave off no more light than maybe a stick-on glow-in-the-dark stare. I didn't illuminate anything because there was _nothing_ to illuminate. While I was looking, though, my chest seemed to... expand as if something was coming out of me. I was even more scared shitless because of the fact that I had watched too many of my mom's favorite horror flicks to think this boded anything but unwell.

However, it wasn't horrific, nor some spindly-legged little black alien creature from an old Aliens film. In fact, the body that emerged was not unlike myself. It was iridescent, and the source of a most powerful radiance that seemed to make Death shudder around me.

"Raziel!" I cried, having found a voice. I latched onto him, we two seperate beings, and he spoke with a booming voice that reminded me of how those ridiculous old Moses movies where God is speaking through the burning bush.

"I'm not bound to your wheel, strange one. I know one like you - greedy, parasitic... a plague unto itself, feeding off the innocent lives of this world... But you keep away your hungry grasp and let her continue on!!"

He swung the Reaver of his for all his worth, and the world around me was roaring. I felt cold, watching as the world around me was very suddenly illuminated. I wrapped my arms around Raziel's neck and felt myself pulled from the force of the Wheel and gave myself up to living. I knew that I was alive, or as close to it as could be.

--Kain--

Pain was not a new experience for me. Unfortunately, knowing pain doesn't take the sting out of its blinding bite, nor does it prepare anyone for it when it comes full-force. The agony of bearing her life with my own blood was excruciating, and feeling a hungry little mouth pulling on my vitality for all she was worth reminded me of having my nerves pulled out through one, minute little hole in my flesh.

I bit my tongue to keep myself from screaming.

I watched as she finally let go of my arm. Her fingers slipped free from that deathgrip and she collapsed onto my lap with a contented sigh. Her eyes were opened, but she did not yet see me. I saw her lips move, and I knew what she said. She mouthed Raziel's name, not mine. But it was enough. I felt my wrist knit itself again and rubbed my hand, having lost almost all feeling in it. I put the wrist guard on again and picked her up, sitting her against the wall near the strange symbols that wrote my name.

I retrieved Raziel - bless him, damned and all, bless his foolish heart - and sheathed the sword thoughtfully. Only the next moment did I hear a powerful vampire approaching. He did not hide his footsteps or make an attempt to sneak upon us. Even if he had, I still might have sensed his presence. I turned to the huge metal door and awaited him.

I knew it was the vampire that Amanda had been speaking to. It was something like the Whisper that we vampires used to communicate over short distances, when too far yet to hear ourselves out loud - the way her head was bent, she must have been in close connection to this one.

The vampire who had fathered Darius, the one who had defended Amanda - in a way - wore a long greatcoat, his hair white as virgin snowscapes in Nosgoth and his face imprinted itself on my memory. It was filled with wisdom, knowledge - he could have passed for Moebius easily but this man had a kinder, more gentler face. On a better day, I would have warmed up to him... maybe.

"Kamael," he said briskly before I could ask. He had an accent that was unique, sweet and like the very scent of the fresh ocean air. "And before you even begin to draw that nasty sword of yours, I will tell you this much - you are not fighting my younger, inexperienced Kindred. Wherever your tainted blood may have originated from, I am almost guaranteed to overpower you."

I stood solidly on the ground. I knew he was taking me in. His pitch black eyes were burning with malicious, smoking hatred, and a morbid hunger to destroy me. I was amused but took extreme care. I kept my hand on the Reaver, feeling my blood tingle with anticipation. "That may be so... but consider perhaps that you are wrong, and all your careful planning and long life have led up to this point - that you will die, murdered by a 'tainted vampire'."

Kamael left no room for me to argue any further. He rushed me, and barely had I time to dodge the telekinetic blast that shattered the wall directly in front of him. I dissolved into mist to quicken my movements, and drew the Reaver, slashing toward his exposed back after manuevering behind him. I cut open his jacket and laid bare his statue white skin, which almost immediately healed. However, he seemed shocked and extremely worried and turned around quickly, countering with a sword of his own I hadn't seen before.

I deflected it and moved against him again with every ounce of skill I could muster. But after my first evasion, he didn't make the error of underestimating me again. He always kept his front towards me, never letting me get the better of him, and never letting me push him against one of the walls. Each strike cost me two from him, and my opponent's new speed won him several scoring slashes in my own flesh. My molten eyes flashed like the boiling depths beneath the earth, as carnal and savage and unforgiving as the States guardian, who often depicted death as one of his elements. I bent my will, and sent my own telekinetic attack, sending him suddenly spiraling through the air and into a pillar which cracked with the impact.

He rose to his feet and tarried a few moments, measuring me so as not to meet my blade or a blast like that again. I could tell he was weakening but it wasn't because of my being a stronger vampire. I had powers that he couldn't comprehend, and in his eyes he understood this. Nothing's fair in love or in war, either. I had no qualms that I was the Scion of Balance as well as the oldest immortal known to Nosgoth.

I rushed forward in a cloud of smoke and mist, sweeping my blade upward and throwing him into the air. I leapt to meet him, and chopped, left, right, and a final crunching left. He was sent to the ground in final crushing blow that bounced him several feet away. I landed and wiped my brow with a low chuckle.

He stood up quickly, panting and glaring at me. I rushed forward and crushed him against the pillar again after knocking his weapon aside. I pinned him with the Reaver and pressed my face close to his. Close enough to feel the chilling breath fan against my nose as I sneered at him.

"Submit," I purred with pleasure. "I can promise you that if you let us go, we'll never return again."

Kamael grew limp and pleaded silently. I gave in and backed away, positioning the Reaver against his throat. The point pricked his skin just so and instantly Raziel's voice filled my head. Screaming. Hungry. I shuddered.

"Leave," Kamael rasped, his eyes widening with the pain of simply being in contact with the Soul Reaver. "Just get away from us all and _leave_."

I tried to dull out Raziel's voice. It was so sudden and unfamiliar - it hearkened back to the awful day when I cast him into the abyss. But there was no pain laced in every rising tone. A distilled, terrifying hatred and loathing and sheer animosity was there now. I sheathed the Reaver, and he quieted a little. I walked away from Kamael, who was too occupied with recovering from his ghastly wounds.

I lifted my new fledgling and carried her in my arms beyond the building, no longer capable of finding my way home here again.


	11. Duo 'Newborn'

--Kain--

Amanda rested against my shoulder, dead asleep (if you will forgive the pun) and I walked in the night aimlessly until we reached the broken, ragged suburban edges of the city, undisturbed by the undead. The dawn light was rising and its brilliance sent me searching in the forests for cover. I found a squatting, humble cabin that hunched over itself on a hill just along a dirt driveway. All alone, it provided me an abandoned shelter that served both as someplace very comfortable and as shelter from the harming effects of the light.

The paralyzed bag of flesh that I'd been carrying, well... she ended up sleeping on a couch, while I quickly arranged sheets and cloth over the windows.

The floors were all hardwood and creaked almost very place I stepped if I took care, or made a 'thunking' sound when I did not. The walls were all stucco, the material cracking and chipping, but painted a very comfortable picture of relaxation. Other than the meager furniture that remained in the old cabin, there was what I thought was a kitchen with bare cupboards and mouse traps hiding behind the refrigerator. I chose to ignore the room completely, because I had no need of kitchens or to even step inside one.

The bedroom was empty save for an old mattress on a wooden frame that sported carvings of olive branches on the headboard. I closed the doors to save the sheets for just the one room.

I sank into a nearby armchair once I was sure the sun had risen and my eyes closed before I could make a conscious deliberation of resting. I was plainly exhausted. All of my exertions, my changing Amanda into my new child. I had barely any time at all to actually make sense of my thoughts as they tumbled around each other, struggling to keep up with the events. Time moved so swiftly and I was unwillingly pulled along for the ride.

I drifted in and out of consciousness. I dimly recollected the sight of the ceiling, with its multitude of grainy indentations and imperfections. I felt as though I had slept for days, but then when I once again peeled my eyes open it felt like only a second. The night air chilled me for the first time in a long time, and I was very, very hungry.

She was just as I left her. But several noticeable changes had come over her. I had no time to notice them now. While she slept in her torpor state, I retreated outside into the darkness in desperate search for sustenance. I realized if I had been truly vampire, my careless antics would have killed me and leave Amanda quite fatherless and alone. But my nature was of a strange duality that lent me more durability than normal circumstances provided.

The shadows unwrapped like a divine present that only a vampire could know. I saw my prey gathered in the darkness, worshipping some unholy deity that would never hear them for it had no such ears. Or perhaps they were just worshipping another vampire. No matter their reason for being, I snuck into their midst and slaughtered them one by one and heartily enjoyed it, if I don't mind saying so myself.

I returned to find Amanda in almost the same way as she had been before. However, she had rolled over, half-falling from the cushions onto the floor with her body arched in so awkward a position that I could only speculate as to how she got that way at all. Smiling ruefully, I bent to pick her up, and place her in a more comfortable position. Then I crouched on the floor, and looked her over.

Her ears had taken on a slightly pointier shape. Her hair covered them, but brushing it away revealed their new shape. Her soft skin was slightly more pallid, but clear. Any imperfection or scarring had been taken care of except one small scar just along the inside of her right eyebrow - probably a long ago incident from her earliest childhood. Her mouth was fuller; everything about her transcended awkward adolescence and placed her neatly into the arms of refined womanhood. She was strikingly beautiful; it would take a blind man not to see that.

"Raziel," I sighed quietly. I let my head droop momentarily, feeling the blood from my feeding warm me. "Raziel, what have you gotten me into? Hm?" He didn't answer. I had hoped that the previous words he had spoken to me before would not be the last.

I wanted someone to talk to.

Hells, does it ever get _lonely_ sometimes!

With little time left to think, I was left with the unsettling probability that I was never going to go home. I had tried hard to push that thought into the darkness of my mind, but it resurfaced with blaring eyes and fangs that sunk in without mercy. I clenched my talons in hopeless anguish, wishing fervently that I was wrong.

A motion from the couch gave me something else to worry about again. The young fledge gave a little hiss as she breathed; a slight tremble of her fingers as she discovered she could move them. Then her eyes opened again for the first time in innumerable days and looked at me.

--Amanda--

I knew I should have been dead. I really did feel dead for the longest time. All around me was nothing, and I couldn't call out to Raziel anymore. But I knew he was around me somewhere, hidden deep inside me. He was glowing, light and warm and felt like a thousand butterflies migrating through me, microscopic and energetic. Then it simply became way too painful to way asleep any longer.

I let my eyes slowly crack open. I felt stiff all over once I became aware of my body, and how stiff it felt. Even my eyelids felt stiff, caked on and heavy. I turned my head and almost heard it creaking from stiffness. The sensation felt peculiar. It was a kind of crackling, like my spine were made of paper.

The first thing I focused on was Kain's rather scary, pensive face. I opened my clumsy mouth and asked tentatively, "What did you do to me?"

"Which part do you want to hear first?" Kain answered plainly. "One thing: if you're thinking I would dare to harm you under specific request not to, you are, might I venture, dead wrong."

"Just make it easy to digest, like baby food," she retorted. "My mind feels like... a stale pot of coffee."

Kain obviously didn't catch that one, but understood the basics of my statement. So he answered, "I had no other choice but to turn you fully into a vampire. You will suffer from mild aches and pains as your body adjusts itself but you will suffer no such deformities as my people have in the past. And finally, know that you will need my blood several times for the change to complete full circle..."

This was the part that required strength and energy and time. It might take a month, or maybe three months, for her to change. And while he was immortal, carrying a sword capable of dealing death to any creature, living or dead, he was still susceptible to weakness and sustained weariness when donating blood to raising a new childe.

I knew this much from my long, if not one-sided lectures with Kamael and what little Darius could reveal to me with his mind. I chewed my lip, trying to reassemble my thoughts again. I was still lost, but in time and with patience, maybe Kain might teach me.

But then again, I was afraid of something. What if Kain decided he didn't need me anymore, and left me to the wolves? Did the vampire have any reason to let me continue on with him once I helped him beyond the point of the portal?

--Author's Notes--

It started getting stale, so I ended it here. Next chapter will include leaping lessons, flying lessons, and hunting lessons. Amusement for all, let me assure you of that, my faithful reader fans!


	12. Duo 'Lessons and Going Home'

--Author's Notes--

This is indeed an interesting chapter. Full of a kind of cheesy humor, you might say, but interaction is good too. I am proud! Behold, chapter 12, and very soon now if I'm lucky, chapter 13... Ohh, inevitable number 13. But chapter 8 is my unlucky chapter.

Thanks for reviewing, all! I'm going to keep writing now that I don't have to struggle so much in school...

--Kain--

That very same night, we ventured out into the darkness. The stores that were closed, I taught Amanda to break into. She was nervous, lacking an ocean of self-confidence, so I used a tactic I often used on my children before - scare them into doing it. She came back with a bundle of nice clothes, looking white as a sheet and looked at me as if her eyes could tear my head off and make it combust.

She wore a pair of snug, black faded jeans, her own sneakers, and a snug black long-sleeved shirt and a long, black coat that she must have taken from vampires anonymous. She looked the part, with her hair tamed into a pony tail and her eyes bright and dark and as deep as the fathomless sky.

"This is happening too quickly to be very convenient," I told her quietly as we hurried back to our little cabin. We dropped her things off before setting out again, in a slightly familiar direction. "But I must teach you these things quickly, and as time progresses you will grow stronger."

"I know all about that," Amanda said with a sigh. She already looked tired, but there was no better time to teach than now.

We followed the sound of talking to another one of those vehicles. I had no love for cars, and still don't - I express great joy when I remember Nosgoth has such more _simpler_ means of transportation - but my fledge daughter didn't mind.

"Take that one," I commanded softly, brushing my talons over her back. She stiffened and looked back at me, her eyes as cold as a deer's caught in the crosshairs. "What's the matter?"

"They're police! Can't you tell?"

They wore uniforms of some kind, this much I could tell. They were talking in low, serious voices - no wonder - not far away there were the bodies of my meal before, bloodless and eviscerated. I shook my head, growling softly. "They mean nothing to you. Perhaps you don't remember what they did for you when you were with Darius. They are worthless, they only see the surface of your world. They don't see us... Now go."

Her face hardened, her lips curving into a tight scowl of dislike. She turned back toward the officers and started to sneak forward, slipping behind one of their cars, while I followed from a different route. Deep inside, worry gnawed on my soul like a starving thing. I was terrified for her, but remembered that as long as I was there, she would come to no harm. I wouldn't dare let anything happen to her. I did it for Raziel... and for me.

She stalked right up to his back, while I grappled the other man from behind, holding him silently while Amanda struggled with the guard. He swung his firearm wide, firing his weapon and shattering the glass of the window next to my arm and damn near startling the hell out me. I quickly dispatched my prey, while my fledgling got wise, bashed her own over the head with her hand. She looked astonished at her own strength, which made me cackle with amusement.

A moment later, I watched her sit on the unconscious man's chest and drink like a starving lioness. And, that little animal, she growled at me when I tried to come up behind her. She turned her eyes on me and glared like a she-demon. I bit my tongue to stop myself from laughing at her.

When we were finished, we deposited the bodies into the car, and sent the beastly machine careening over a cliff.

--Amanda--

I had better warn you now that learning isn't easy. I was good in school, but only after battling my awkwardness that summertime idleness awarded me. Basically, I beat the laziness out of myself accordingly to work myself into shape for some downright grueling academic endorsement.

The same applied to vampirism. I didn't want to get up every night and practice doing the basic things that Kain did. I mean, sure, it was cool to watch him jump around like good vampires should, but I was... well, I was afraid.

A week into the future had me standing on top of a six story building in the more developed section of the Mediterranean coast. Kain was standing behind me at an uncomfortable proximity, and folded his arms over his chest. The Reaver was with us, and the baleful eyes seemed to penetrate my soul and mock me for my cowardice.

"I don't have all night," Kain said irritably. "Jump, or I'll make you."

"Can't we just go out and eat? This is insane. I can't jump."

"Yes, you can."

"No, I can't."

Kain gave me a measuring look, and a stare that said novels about how much I was going to pay if I didn't do as he said. "Try it. Now. Just think of the torment you'll go through if you don't, thinking what an idiot you are for not even trying. Wars are not won, nor battles fought, by being frightened."

I looked down sheepishly. He was right; if I did not try, I was bound to begin doubting myself and hating every minute of my life because of my silly fears. But still... the building across from us was well over twenty-five feet away. The street below was somewhat busy, and if I fell...

I failed to notice Kain as I deliberated what it would feel like if my immortal body struck the pavement at full speed. Before I had the nerve to react, he seized me by the jacket I wore with one hand, then by the seat of my pants with the other.

"What the hell?!" I struggled, my face flushing red. I bared my fangs, waving my arms. "Kain! No, no, don't throw me!!"

He gave me an innocent, malicious little smile. _ Oh, god, I could slap that mouth,_ I thought. Then just as sure as the sun rises, I found myself flailing helplessly, before smashing into the garbage heap on the other side of the street on the rooftop.

The gorgeous moon was full and almost bloody. I stared at it and then rolled onto my feet, dusting myself off in time to see Kain sailing over the gap and landing gracefully at the edge of the roof. He strode over to meet me and chuckled at my disarray.

"Was that fun?" he inquired in a faux-friendly tone.

I smiled a little bit. In fact... it rather was. "Why the hell did you do that, anyway?"

"When one stands around doing nothing, one begins to... want to try things. Besides, there is more than one way to skin a cat."

"Or throw a chick," I added, annoyed. But, since I was over here, and we were on the subject of skills, I put my hand on his arm lightly and peered up at him. "Daddy," I asked, using my most childish and pleading voice. "Would you so much as mind throwing me...again?"

"Good lord, what have I started now?" Kain seized me up into his arms and gave me an awkward, if not powerful, hug. It was then the fabric of my sanity began to break open new lesions, and my heart quailed at the contact that was physical that meant no harm.

I pulled away, my eyes watering and my vision turning red from the tears. "Don't touch me," I whispered hoarsely before turning slowly turning away. I rubbed my arms.

The night seemed colder than before. Then there was the presence of the sword, and Raziel's spirit inside of it. The proximity of it made my stomach hurt, and my chest ache as if there was something missing. Kain probably wouldn't understand such a thing - all I know of him was he was a good leader, a powerful fighter, and someone whom I didn't care much for yet.

I tried jumping at last. I became more adept at this feat, and the more I practiced, the better I jumped. Each jump seemed more like Kain's, but with my own style and flair. I felt like I was in a Matrix movie, and laughed a little as I recalled a scene where Neo was required to practice 'freeing his mind'.

I licked my lips; my exertions made me thirsty. Finally Kain and I retired to the dark lower streets, filled with our accorded prey, and fed on the evil and the unwanted. When we retreated to the woods and the cabin, Kain stopped me in the darkness of the trees. It was startling to find him look at me with his burning yellow eyes, thoughtful and strangely warm with their fatherliness.

"What would you like to do, Amanda?" He spoke in all seriousness, with more warmth that I thought him capable of. His body relaxed against the trunk of a large tree, regarding me with a mixture of resignation and peace.

I thought about it. Then my eyes blooded again and I rubbed at them tiredly. "I want to go back to New York."

"Where is that, then?"

"Across a whole ocean... but I know ways to get there. Without those vehicles you hate so much. I need magic again, but I can get that easily. I've got my books back already, and some herbs and stones. I just need time and power..."

"Why do you want to go there?"

"That's none of your business. You asked me what I wanted already, now leave it the fuck alone." I stunned him with my vehemence as best I could, but he seemed immune. He still got the message and was wise enough to do just as I said, but I almost wished he'd assert his stubborn will upon me and make me talk to him.

That was one thing Raziel could do.

--Kain--

I was stunned; she was unexpectedly brutal when it came to questions about her personal life. But whatever lie in this New York, she would probably be better for it... or so I hoped.

The next evening I found her gathering her things together in a pack. She gasped as she stood up, lifting it as if it weighed nothing but yet it carried so many things. "This is...this is awesome." She put it down, picked it up, and repeated maybe five or six times before I grew a little annoyed.

"Yes, yes, didn't you know that your strength is phenomenal? Can you please explain to me what you're doing now?"

"Jesus," she sneered. "Woke up on the wrong side of the coffin, Dracula?"

"I do wish you would stop calling me that..."

"Sorry, daddy," she replied, and for a moment she seemed sincere. "But... I'm packing up. I think I've got my spell ready. I don't know if I'm capable of casting, but we'll see."

I stood in the corner of our secret cabin, with candles lit all around us. I could see by their light the complex design she had drawn in the floor with her blood, which she had dispensed at a great cost for she had fed double the usual amount tonight already.

She chanted, lighting incense as she went. The process made me feel an unsettling disorientation. My mind wandered to places, thinking of the night and its strangeness. My eyes blurred while I focused on insignificant details in front of me, the shine of light on my daughter's hair, the wrinkles in her shirt sleeve as she signaled with her hands.

Then the symbols in the floor gushed with energy, like a sonic wave. I gasped and jerked to attention, severely embarrassed that I was found dozing thus. But my attention was taken by the glowing symbols, their swirling inner power and Amanda's triumphant smile, her fangs glittering in the unearthly light emanating from her craftsmanship.

She stood up, gasping a little as she leaned against the couch nearby. The floor was pulsating, and for awhile I thought I was looking into the Vampire Citadel's many labyrinthine portals, reflecting a place I had never seen before in my life.

"Come here," she said raggedly. "We can go in now. It'll vanish when we are gone." She reached out to me, clearly weakened from her efforts. I stepped toward her and took her hand, and pulled her closer to me so that she could lean against me. Together, then, we made our way into the clutches of her portal and were transported with all magical swiftness to a new and unsettling continent.

I emerged to a much... colder, and unusual place than our old home had been. Amanda had stumbled away from me and stood on a stone ledge, overlooking a river which tumbled over a disassembled dam, crashing hopelessly into the gloom which was broken occasionally by lights peering through the pine trees and hemlock.

She shivered and looked around. There were broken sticks, and snow piled up haphazardly around the path. There were traces of footprints in the ground around us, but they were indeed quite old. She sank down on her knees in the snow, oblivious to the sudden chill.

Her voice was soft, and far away. I wasn't positive that she was talking to anyone in particular. "It was here... I met him here..."

I took a slow breath, stepping toward her to touch her hair. I didn't like the way she was acting. No daughter of mine should be so weak. Perhaps it was the spell that taxed her strength so - perhaps it was something else.

She stood up slowly, ignoring my silent offer for assistance. Then she turned and started walking back away from the river as if nothing had happened. "My old house... where I used to live. It's this way," she responded, waving for me to follow.


	13. Duo 'Mister Grant'

Author's Notes:

Smoke: Thank you for the advice..it seems to be working, and the more I use what i learn in school the better I feel. Normally I just write out of my head, and my sentence structure is rarely ever correct even though it sounds okay to me... so I have to go through and fix that.... thanks again. And yes, Kain is quite paternal toward Amanda... in fact, more than he'd like to admit... It appears that Amanda finds peace in that place by the dam. It makes her feel warm and special... and sad at the same time. But it could contain power.

Laila: Glad I could keep your faith in me burning. Sorry this took so long... had to ensure it's quality was good first. -hugs-

--Kain--

The winter landscape reminded me of my Nosgoth, pristine and white when it wasn't choked with pollution and decay. I pondered the aspect of Amanda's nature, what she was like while she grew up here. I understood it that she did not grow up 'here' precisely her entire life, but across the landscape, moving from here to there as she and her mother saw the need to. It wasn't a whimsical decision, but thought-out and intended to improve Amanda's future and opportunities. It did not appear to work out quite that way, so obviously I would never quite know what she would have grown to be as a mortal woman.

_Does she hate me? _I wondered suddenly, realizing that she might turn on me. That all of her anger was not because of me, precisely, but because of all the suffering she had endured - all at the hands of these miserable vampires. I began to have a certain loathing of them myself, how disorganized and how brutal they could be.

Well...

The starlight sparkled through the broken clouds that otherwise filled the majority of the sky. The trees were black and majestic, each branch pulsating with the life that was her world's blood. I found myself relaxing, if only a little, as we walked a short road under a roof of barren branches into the small parking lot, a wall of snow directly to our left. Amanda stopped here under the trees, realizing she wore little else but a black tank top and jeans, and it was probably well below freezing.

"Lights are on," she whispered, hugging herself. "Could be my mother's on the computer or something... she never sleeps well at night." Suddenly she turned to me, and implored me with begging, wide eyes. "Kain, I'm afraid. It's... been over two years."

"I know. It seems a long time. It may well be. But you've only been a vampire for a week, and you have aged. She will understand." I hoped I was right.

"I wish you could come up with me," she went on, turning back to the downstairs apartment windows.

I smiled, resting my hand on her shoulder. "Just jump," I whispered, winking.

I watched her eyes light up a little. Thrilled to see that my charms worked so well most of the time, I was heartened to see her walking boldly around the side of the porch and climb up the steps to the door. She opened the door as quietly as she could, and from my place under the trees I heard the metallic creaking. Then, crestfallen, I made out the shape of a man as they exchanged words.

Amanda thanked him, then turned away, walking down the steps after insisting that she didn't need something warm to drink at the moment.

"She doesn't live here anymore," she said quietly. "She probably moved on with her life. That... hurts me."

I already noticed she had come to a grim and unhappy decision.

"So I'm not going to go looking for her. I think if she's forgotten me already, I..." She swallowed with difficulty, turning her face away from me. "I wouldn't do her harm by suddenly reappearing, all better and happy."

We walked for awhile in the streets, my daughter and I, in an uncomfortable but amiable silence. _My daughter._ I still have trouble calling her that. It was always _my lieutenants, my sons. _ How far I had come.

"What do you want to do now?" Comforting was becoming something I was marginally good at. It seemed she needed it frequently, along with a good kick in her rear occasionally.

She looked as if she wanted to give one of her more colorful answers, but she trailed off and wandered haphazardly toward the wall. She staggered, slipping and falling headfirst against the brick surface. She fell backwards again onto her back and, clenching her fists, grew rigid. I thought she'd Become enraged. But instead she proceeded cackling contagiously so that I too found myself grinning with bemusement.

I shook my head. I would never understand my daughter's strange and unusual ways.

The next night we found ourselves booked at a local church founded by a kind old patriarch who was more or less a little slow to catch on to what I was. He was glad to let us live in his attic, which was beautifully adorned with stained glass windows which filtered out enough light during the day to keep Amanda comfortable. The light didn't bother me in the slightest, as I discovered when I woke up to find a single shining ray of light blazing me in the face from a hole in the window. After covering it with a strip of cloth, I returned to my rest.

Raziel found a nest next to us on a cracked old oak bookshelf that was missing the bottom most shelf. The blade hummed occasionally, and for a moment I worried that he might awaken and command a power I couldn't control. Unexpectedly, he was calm and content to be where he was. I wondered how long that would last, and what sorcery could hold him there, and for how long.

The echo of his words wounded me as I watched the weapon. _I am, as ever, your right hand - your sword..._

The lulling sound of voices from below the building for some midnight sermon stirred me relaxation. I wanted a little sleep, for I was quite tired and nothing would serve me better than to get some well-earned shut-eye. Light still spilled in across the floor, faded blue, green and orange across the dusty attic floor with its small holes and unkempt stacks of paper and bibles laying about. Amanda was nestled in a pile of clean blankets on a pine futon nearby, while I reclined serenely on a bedroll.

For the second time, I unwillingly left my body unwatched while the hours ticked by. My body relented to its powerful desire to rest, bound on dreaming of things I had no heart to remember. The sound of Raziel's scream of rage and agony as I cast him into the abyss - that sound had echoed far into the centuries, following me every step, haunting my every action until I was hardly confident that I even knew what I was doing.

For several moments I wondered what Raziel would have appeared to look like if I had mercifully spared him his terrible punishment - it was almost certain he would have become the Hylden's champion. But I would rather let Raziel kill me in battle then see him live an innumerable millennia contained in a sword and damned to the total loss of his identity.

Time passed over me and left me untouched, if not a bit thirstier. The placidity of my rest was still with me when I awoke to my fledgling fumbling with her blankets slowly and sluggishly, before squirming her way toward me. She looked like a caterpillar, or a child struggling to reach me without the coordination of an adult. I bit my tongue to keep from laughing, but it was so very hard!

She reached out to me, scraping her nails gratingly on the floor. When I saw her face, it was twisted in a grimace of pain and terror, and her eyes were seeing things I could not comprehend. Then she relinquished her will to her dreams and pulled herself into a ball. I sat up and a moment passed in silent observance. Then, when I'd had enough of watching her body give way to violent tremors, I snuck toward her and pulled her close, pulling her blankets open and baring open another vein.

As expected, she opened her eyes and fixed them on the bleeding wound. Then her lips closed on it and I was in painful ecstasy. After that, she fell asleep, full up with blood and I was not feeling any better for it, but I could deal with it.

A few hours later, Amanda was awake, and the night had blossomed with a promise for good hunting. The good father who had put us up for the night arrived with mortal fair, which Amanda picked at while he chatted with us for awhile. Once more I was nervous, yet intrigued that the wizened, senile man didn't seem to notice the demon apparition that was me sitting in the shadows.

"A man came asking for you and your daughter the other day," Father Madden informed us, cheerfully smacking me on the shoulder. I grimaced, but smiled through it. "He said his name was Grant. Quite a red-faced little man."

"Did he say what he wanted?" Amanda questioned carefully.

The priest nodded. "Yes. He says he had a summons for you. And he wanted to give you this." He slid a paper envelope into Amanda's waiting fingers unquestionably. Scanning the name on it, she proceeded to pass it to me. I shook my head at her, indicating I had no idea what it said - I couldn't decipher the hand-writing.

"Thank you, Father," she told him quietly. He was smart enough to know that it was time for him to leave. Then she tore open the envelope by sliding her finger through a crease in the corner and manipulating it open neatly. The paper was clean, crisp and white with alarming straight, neat hand-writing.

Amanda scanned this, too before folding it up and pushing her plate away from her, leaning back on her hands because we were seated on the floor. "The jist of it is, Grant's boss knows about us and the man himself wants an audience with us. His boss.. I don't know how to pronounce his name. It's really long and drawn-out. But the first few letters are Soran."

I was intrigued, but after my last encounter with vampires I was not keen on beginning another war and putting myself on the personal agenda of another powerful vampire. The look in my eyes was clear enough for her to understand.

"I know," she said quietly, rubbing her foot which she had pulled up close to her body, her leg hanging out sideways. "But there might be something..."

"What?"

"I don't know... I get so tired of hearing it myself... but you... you really want to leave, don't you? Nosgoth..." She stared into the palm of her hand, and her eyes followed the curve of my clan symbol painfully etched into her skin. Of all the scars on her body it seemed the tattoos were the only things unaffected.

No matter what I tried to do to avoid the subject, it was plain that I would have to think about it. What was I to do? Amanda clearly could take no more of the cold world that no longer had a place for her in it. While I scrutinized her, she was smothering her emotions inefficiently; I could see through her mask of indifference.

"I was deliberating the possibility... and I must say, there is no other way. You must come with me to Nosgoth... if we ever find a way to get there."

"But in the meantime are we going to see this Soran and Mr. Grant guy?"

"I will dictate a letter. If this Mister - Grant - returns, you can hand it to him."


	14. Duo 'Family'

--Amanda--

As soon as I finished the letter, the priest gave us an envelope to stick it in. It was yellow, aged, but it looked almost as impressive as the envelope that Soran's letter came in. I was glad to have something to do. Half-way through the letter my hand began to shake as a result of never having written anything in the past two years, other than my own name. But I finished it, and sealed it with a swift application of sticky saliva. It tasted strange and made me gag. I never much cared for envelope licking.

Then I realized how much my body ached. I didn't remember how I woke up in the night to feed from my father. It didn't occur to me how completely I belonged to him, until I began to feel the burning. It was a fire spilling into my blood and making me tired and wide awake at once.

The letter fell from my hand to the floor and I followed soon after, but he was there. His arms bore me up easily and guided me slowly toward the futon and set me in it. I thrashed at him, angry. _Why can't I do things myself anymore? Why must I be a slave to someone else?_

I watched him quietly and unceremoniously open his arm for me again. I wanted to shout, to tell him to stop, but the fire made my throat stick and my tongue leaden. The only thing to make it better was that stuff he was feeding me. I managed to get my tongue to lick it from my lip where it had fallen. Then I seized his arm in my hands, digging my fingernails so hard into his flesh that I almost made him bleed more. Growling, possessive, my jaw opened wide and drilled my slightly sharpened teeth into his skin.

His gasp of pain aroused me somehow. I liked it.

_Bleed, you bastard, _I remember thinking. I wanted him to hurt, for what he had started with Raziel. I wasn't thinking straight at all, but everything I was ever mad at, I began to take it out on him.

I felt his free hand pushing at my head. He looked positively horrified. I just held tighter, knowing he would hurt me if he had to in order to cease my efforts of draining him dry as a desert. Still he didn't stop me. There was only so much of his essence to drink before I felt light-headed. Dizzy with blood, I closed my eyes, my mouth falling slack when he pushed me against the futon. He licked at his wound before I felt his talons close on my throat. I thought he was going to choke me, yet I was wrong again. He felt my pulse, counting under his breath. Then he left me be.

"Are you better again?" he asked, looking exhausted and quite weathered when I saw him again. He reclined on the other end of the futon, one arm dangling behind the back.

"Does this happen often?" I whispered, feeling my mind shuffling to catch up with the events.

The ancient lord nodded gravely, a touch of a smile on his black mouth.

"I knew thirst before when Darius had me," I murmured, scratching my arm idly, "but never this."

Kain shrugged his shoulders, rubbing his elbow idly with his great talons. His gaze was distracted, as though there was something wrong with me, but I put it off at just him behaving weird. "You will find more often as the nights wear on, you will feel that my blood no longer satiates your thirst and you might be inclined to find sustenance...elsewhere. I encourage you to feed now because I refuse to allow you to become as dependant as a babe on my blood alone."

"Breast milk," I said disgustedly. Kain leaned close suddenly, and wiped something from the corner of my mouth. He licked the talon clean of the blood. So that's what he was staring at.

I decided not to pursue the topic anymore, since I didn't like the direction it was going. I felt embarassed enough as it was, and I refused to put that image and Kain together. It wasn't a pretty sight. I stood up instead and walked toward the stained glass, pressing close to peer through it as best as I could. I saw the swirling clouds of white outside, and the delicate sound of hissing as the wind blew fresh motes of it billowing into the air.

"Let's go outside," I called to him, formulating an idea.

--Kain--

It took quite a lot of convincing. I followed her outside reluctantly, the snow biting into my chilled skin. I was blood-starved and the cold only made it seem worse. The great doors shut behind us and she pulled me through the most shallow snow available towards the white-out into the parking lot of a retail store across the street. The press of her hand on my wrist made me feel less vulnerable. I could no more discern if the snow was burning because it was water or if it was just very cold.

A wall of driving snow moved aside as if it were a curtain revealing a disturbing scene. Amanda pointed casually, her eyes shining as she slipped under my arm, applying a little pressure around my waist with her small human arms.

A sound kept repeating through the air, again and again. Amanda pushed on, reaching out toward a pile of snow. With out large sweep of her arms she managed to move aside a bunch of it, then reveal the window of a car. An animal was inside, barking even more wildly to see a rescuer standing there.

"Help me," she told me, looking over her shoulder while she pressed her hands against the cold glass. Then, to the dog inside, she called, "Don't worry, honey, mama's coming to getcha, mama's coming."

I'd hoped she didn't intend to keep the dog, but she was love-stricken as soon as the animal jumped into her arms when I managed to manipulate the door open wide enough. Amanda wept bitterly for awhile as we made our way to the church doors. Somehow, deep in her small heart, however senile and broken it may have been, there was room enough to love the animal for awhile. She welcomed it longingly into her heart to soothe the pain that was there.

The dog was a medium-sized hound breed that had floppy ears, and a coat of brown and white. She named him Raziel.

--Later--

Amanda rubbed the dog down with a towel, while I checked to make sure none of the melting snow could hurt me. She was watching me; I felt her gaze burning, questioning.

"It doesn't hurt," I answered wistfully. "Although I fear if I tried it in the bath, it may result in ugly consequences."

"Do you mind if I name him Raziel?" she asked for the second time, and again I shook my head silently, staring at the flickering candles near the statue of the Christ.

We were sitting on the pews inside the church, and haven't went up the stairs to our dark brooding cavern. I flexed my talons in the dull yellow lights of the congregation room, all candles still lit. The good padre wandered around, making sure everything was clean and mumbling his phrases and Hail Mary's to himself. Such a thing I could have laughed at, but now I had too much time on my hands and my mind wandered. I hated waiting for too long.

"He looks healthy," Amanda said as she examined Raziel's teeth, his hindquarters and his bones. "If not a little dirty. If I find out who left him out there, I'm going to kick their--"

"Ah!" the padre cried. "Someone's at the door."

It was Mr. Grant. As expected, the man was normal looking enough. He even smiled at me - which made me more nervous than if he had run away screaming. Amanda held out the letter that she had written, neat in its envelope with Raziel running around the pews, collar jangling while he investigated all with his acute canine senses.

"Ah... the letter." He had a faint New England accent. "Thanks a bunch. I'll deliver it. But, don't you want to come and see him yourself?"

"We don't trust very many people. The letter explains," I replied in my most courteous voice. Diplomatic behavior was ever my calling in Nosgoth. "If he wants to see us, tell him to come to us and under no other conditions. Alone."

Mr. Grant blanched, bunched up in a formidable parka. Then he nodded a little and tucked the letter into his coat before turning and walking toward the sleight. Amanda peered around the door, blinking at the sight of it. "Wow! He really came in a sleigh? Who is he, Santa's little elf?"

"Who in hell is Santa?" I demanded, crossing my arms. Raziel at last came to me, and snuffled at my feet until I started to back away. "G-Get away, beast."

"Aw... he just wants to know who you is, dat's all!" Amanda turned to get down on all fours, gently head-butting the dog while he walked around her, whining. "Yes, I saved your life. You aren't too cold, are you?" She wrapped him in the towel after a swift application of magic that I detected.

I was curious to see what else she knew as a witch, but I didn't want to disturb her. Instead, I shut the church doors and barred them.

The priest arrived with a thick, soft plush blanket. God, the man was tireless. Thanking him, I was grateful to be warm, and I wrapped myself in it and retreated to the stairs with Amanda and her new Raziel close at my heels. The sun would come up shortly, and Amanda would want to make sure her dog is fed and that she was fed, and more or less everything was alright.

After Raziel went to sleep, Amanda sat down by the window, pressing her forehead against the cold glass. I approached cautiously in my blanket, before, with a sudden desire to dominate, I seized her around her body with it and pulled her into my warming bear hug. I squeezed until she squeaked appreciatively and exhaled.

"Father," she whispered. Her voice shook with the effort to speak it. "You're not like any man I would have chosen for a dad, but I didn't have a choice."

"Are you disappointed?" I answered smoothly, finding it hard to bite back the annoyance in my tone.

"I want my mother," she replied sadly.

"Do you still insist on lingering over her?"

"It's hard to let go when I loved her so much. How could you understand? You killed Raziel."

I stiffened. My talons sank into her thighs without a sound coming from her, but I could see the color drain from her face and her eyes get a sudden dulling in them as she directed her cries inward. "I did not kill Raziel. He sacrificed himself to give me the strength to fight. If you should like to argue otherwise, be my guest... but I warn you, your disrespect will get you nothing, do you understand?"

"Y-You're hurting me..." She closed her eyes, shuddering as her legs began to try and relax. I let go of her, watching her stagger out of my arms across the floor. Her wounds healed, but a little slowly, leaving twin puddles of blood at her feet. Then, turning upon me with enraged eyes like a bobcat, she snarled at me. "What kind of father are you? I was right; you don't understand a damn thing about me. I wish Raziel was here, and he'd be damned before he ever let you treat me like shit!"


	15. Kain 'Succour'

Author's notes: Alright. I've got my Kain thing down. Sometimes I don't need to write as Amanda because there's so little I can think of her to be thinking... even if she is, technically, me, in a sense. What I propose is a little outside research for Soran, and Mr. Grant becoming a vital individual in their journey as it continues back, slowly, toward Nosgoth.

--Kain--

After a proper feeding on my own time, I recovered from a careless dry spell on my account rather quickly. I wasn't looking at Raziel anymore with a palpable desire to tear his throat from his scrawny neck and Amanda seemed relieved when I crouched occasionally to roughen the little beast up a little. Normally animals would avoid a disgusting creature such as I, but Raziel? No. He was usually found at my heels or in Amanda's lap, and when he was after me he would waddle his wagging tail so hard it was like his body was moving in two directions at once. It was difficult not to be affectionate when the little bastard was so persistent.

Mr. Grant did not return for several days. During that time, the snow melted back to tolerable levels and Amanda left to hunt on her own. I didn't ask where she went, and she didn't share the location of her stomping grounds which was fine by me. I was still angry with her by the time the fifth night since Mr. Grant's last visit, and when the sun set to greet the sixth, I woke to another surprise

Awakened, Amanda sat by the stained glass windows again and wept quietly.

Rousing myself, I stirred; she saw me and turned around. "I'm sorry," she told me brokenly, wiping at her eyes furiously with the vigor of one who hates to cry. "I'm really, truly sorry for what I said. I've been walking on egg-shells around you and I can't stand it. If I'm going to live with you, I don't want to do it like we're sworn enemies..."

Her unexpected show of remorse startled me a little, but what truly shocked me was how she came toward me and slid into my arms willingly, her hands caressing my shoulders and her small mouth kissing my cheek and my forehead before burying her regretful visage against my shoulder. I returned her embrace with a small shudder - I knew then that an unfortunate fire had been kindled in me, and I could not have quenched it with the cooling waters of a thousand kisses like the ones she'd given me. I tightened my hold and she tightened hers, and I pressed my mouth carefully against her throat in forgiveness.

"It's all right," I assured her. "And you are right. Perhaps I don't harbor the human coherent thought of family. Do I even know what the word means anymore?"

Amanda shrugged her shoulders, her sobs having quieted to short snuffles. I stroked her back, surprising myself. I was never so gentle or affectionate. I hardened my voice slightly, thrilled that I could do it without feeling I should be repentant. "Listen, you needn't feel sorely for your actions now. It's behind us, and the past is rarely worth crying over these days."

She nodded, and we spoke of it no more and were perhaps a little more open to each other than we were before.

Glad to be rid of that emotional baggage, Amanda and I practiced practical fighting skills. She was actually gaining good experience, and she would need them if her magic ever failed her - which it might. You can never know!

Also, a great many times I saw new things appearing in our haven as if she expected us to stay here. For example, among the first thing she bought or stole was a mechanism that projected sound and most often music. At any given time of night I would return from a nightly skulking and see her sitting in the middle of the floor, or sprawled out with her eyes to the ceiling, moving her foot to the rhythm and enjoying herself by simply singing to the song itself.

"Long lost words whisper slowly to me," she'd go on. "Still can't find what keeps me here... When all this time I've been so holy inside, I know you're still there."

_Watching me, wanting me. I can feel you pull me down, fearing you, loving you--_

What hellish manner of music was it? Even if it was irritatingly loud, the lyrics fascinated me. Somehow I found myself sitting down and learning how to read after Amanda struggled to teach a few English lessons. Reading was easy after I found myself falling into it like I'd known all along. Amanda knew not to ask me to write anything, for which I was both grateful and sad.

One day I saw her dancing, and stopped in the doorway to admire how she moved around. It was more than silly-looking to me, but she still looked beautiful and after awhile it no longer seemed as ridiculous. Raziel was laying down, having gone to sleep early but was slowly achieving a nocturnal sleep pattern to flow with Amanda's lifestyle. The room was adorned with a bed and blankets; she dusted a few bookshelves and started filling them up with books that she loved. There were end tables flanking a dusty old couch, a television that sat untouched since she found it on top of a wooden crate. 

I picked up the small booklet that went with her compact disk that was playing currently. _Evanescence, _it read. _Fallen._

Once again my heart stung. I furtively wished she didn't surreptitiously remind me of my numerous follies. I bit my lip, flipping through and reading the text. Some of the songs made little sense to me, but a few made more sense than I had liked, and they struck deeper chords in me of remorse and jagged loneliness - songs such as Going Under and Bring Me To Life. It was not lost on me why she was so depressed!

Amanda wandered close to me, taking the small pamphlet out of my hands before drawing me closer, moving. She moved almost like a seducing sorceress, with her eyes on mine, somehow losing its shyness from her humanity.

"I tried to kill my pain," she sang modestly with the compact disk's sweet voice. "But only brought more. I lay dying... and I'm pouring... crimson regret."

Drawn over to the middle of the floor with her, I followed her with a chill settling in my blood that froze me occasionally and made my innards clench at my own foolish emotion. I was stricken by her gaze, while she secretly weaved a spell against me. Worn as I was from my travels, her arms felt good around me, pulling her closer as she did to me. My mouth curved into a dangerous smile.

I questioned softly, "What are you doing?"

"When am I not a fledgling?" she wondered out loud, the music's volume lowering. "What do I have to do to graduate into full-blooded vampire?"

"Answer my question first," I commanded of her, narrowing my eyes dangerously. She quailed a little before she stuck her tongue out at me with unrestrained arrogance that made my blood burn.

"I'm having fun," she replied innocently, detangling herself from me. "And if you don't like it, you can just walk out and go brood somewhere."

I chuckled, somewhat disappointed as she wandered over to shut off the stereo. "Clearly our ideas of fun vary by nature. Do you want to spar?"

"So you can let me kick your butt again? No, thank you." She stretched her arms over her head, bending her back painfully until it popped.

Suddenly the door jarred open and the priest entered again, who was closely followed by the familiar Mr. Grant. I tensed, folding my arms over my chest and indignant that he just walked into our not-so-secret lair.

"Soran will have you now," Mr. Grant informed us cheerfully. He regarded me for a moment to appraise my new clothing - snug black pants, boots, and a long-sleeved shirt that fell well over my wrists. A belt around my waist for good measure. "At a private location."

Amanda began to tug on her sneakers and leather jacket that was won from a battle, long ago, along with her pouch of goods. "Yeah? And if we don't like what's going on, we're leaving, got it?"

"Amanda," I cautioned, shaking my head. "Let it be."

"That's alright. Soran won't keep you long, and he has been very busy to make sure that you will be safe and comfortable for the duration of the conference." He motioned. "Please, follow me."

We followed him outside to the car, with Raziel following us. Amanda stopped, realizing he was there before she knelt, and bade him to stay.

The trip in yet another infernal car took no less than thirty minutes. The night sprawled out in all its wintry splendor and I was rarely surprised by much, but the town that we were occupying took up the space of a small kingdom, much more like the Mediterranean paradise across the sea. I wondered stupidly if towns like this covered the entire world, and if that was so, how did anyone get to enjoy nature and solitude? It was as if industry and commerce had encroached on every inch of the earth, stealing the life's breath out of it as surely as the damnation of the Pillars did Nosgoth. But things thrived. Here and there, I saw eyes in the night - vampire eyes, coyote eyes and eyes of creatures I couldn't yet name.

We drove over the highway at approximately sixty-five miles per hour. Then the car jostled us onto an unnamed road, leading up through the woods. The engine struggled, the wheels spun but we managed to find level enough ground and proceed, the trees leaning so close and laden with white blankets of snow. I peered out the windows, the Reaver with me because I would not leave it alone for more than a second. The act itself was unthinkable and clearly unacceptable.

--Amanda--

I closed my eyes and leaned my head against the glass. I didn't care where I was going. I wished we'd brought Raziel. But how out of place the poor animal would be! Still I longed for his rough fur under my hands. It had been such a comfort, and many times the music that I recovered from the stores and little Razzy's presence had made everything seem brighter.

I stole a glance at Kain, who was coveting the Soul Reaver close to him, the grinning skull design on the hilt staring right at me. The gaze transfixed me, knowing full well it shouldn't be gazing at all but there it was, staring me in the face like some gruesome corpse. I pulled my knees up to my chest, looking over toward the rear view mirror to catch a glimpse of Mr. Grant's friendly face. He caught my gaze and winked.

Something, like a distant radio playing, started distantly. I looked around, trying to pinpoint its source. "Did you just turn the radio on?" I asked Mr. Grant. His response was negative, and I sank back into my cushions with my eyes closed, trying to block out the annoying white noise sound.

I was worried I was still going crazy. Sometimes I thought I heard things in the night, ever since arguing with Kain and it continued until I finally caved and apologized, almost on my hands and knees as though I were paying homage and begging forgiveness of some god. I blushed to think of Kain in that way, angry to be under such control. But it felt better and the noise in my mind stopped for awhile.

The sword continued to stare. Finally I put my hands over my ears and shut my eyes. But the noise suddenly broke, just when I was going to say something very inappropriate. Through the break of mind noise, I heard something fainter coming through, clear as though someone were trying to whisper to me without waking me up.

_Trust him, _the voice said. _By all that's holy and good, trust him with your life, or you'll swiftly find yourself in the realm of death._

_Who are you? _I answered back, finding my own furtive whisper echoed back at me.

_Who are you...? Who are you? Who am I? _Laughter. Bitter. Joyous and despairing at the same time. It made my skin crawl, the hairs on my neck stand up in a not-so-good way.

"What is it?" Kain's voice murmured, his hand resting gently on my arm, which was crossed over my chest. I rested my other hand on his talons, almost ashamed to find myself trying to comfort myself through contact with him. "Did you hear something?"

"Nothing." I bit my lip. "Nothing, Kain."


	16. Duo 'Soran and his Dogs'

Author's Notes: I haven't received any reviews, but that's not stopping me from writing. Most of this chapter was inspired by my old mentor, Astri (AWESOME NAME!) She was an awesome woman and a driving force in my life, giving me confidence and advice, and some time away when my house started feeling like a jail cell. We'd go drive for fourty-five minutes to the theatre and the mall and hang out every month and each trip was worthwhile.

--Amanda--

The two-story house was rather beautiful. It reminded me of my old mentor's house. It had an upper story balcony from which large, broad French windows opened out onto the world, but were shut now and carefully blocked by thick white curtains. The main color was green, but it had a small red barn hidden amongst a thick tangle of spruce and pine. (My mentor was from Britain and had the most beautiful accent and had a lot of energy for such an older person. Last time I'd seen her in my mortal life, she was going to be a grandmother.) This house had white fence all around, concrete on the bottom so the four dogs I saw running around inside of it couldn't dig their way out. I squirmed slightly, for dogs always had a way of making me happy and full of energy, as if their great bounding love for mankind seemed to spill over onto me.

Barking filled our ears as the car doors opened and we were left to our own devices. Mr. Grant walked up to the front porch, fumbling for keys in his big dark woolen coat, until he unlocked the door. The fence stopped right next to the door against the porch, and I peered down to look into the eyes of a beautiful husky bitch, her tail wagging and her breath puffing out in quick bursts of warm air.

"Why does he keep dogs?" Kain asked, for the answer wasn't altogether obvious.

"Because he likes them!" Mr. Grant replied cheerfully. "Soran has always had dogs, but he never turns them like some vampires do."

"So, what does he do with them then?" I rubbed my arms a little bit, reaching down to let the female sniff my hand. I rubbed her ears, trying not to fall over into the dog run.

"He keeps them the way they are, and raises them all from puppy-hood. Every few years when they start to grow old, he'll send me to Pet Center to buy another," Mr. Grant finally opened the door and lead us inside a small coat room, continued past since we didn't have a lot of coats to hang up, into a kitchen. The ceiling was high, and there was a giant cast-iron stove, stoves, and what appeared to be a device for grinding coffee beans hooked into the wall - also very old fashioned.

The floor was marble gray-speckled-red, with a grungy rug spattered with muddy wet dog-prints on it from the dogs coming in this way sometimes. I shuddered, finding the resemblance to my mentor's house almost uncanny. The anteroom to the right was a dining room, made of glass all the way to the ceiling, with electric shades to keep the sunlight out during the day. There was an electric relaxation fountain in the middle of the table, splashing water with a gentle calming burble.

Through the kitchen, squeezing past a pair of kitchen counters lead us into a dining room with a table that was covered with ancient books, stacked there and then forgotten as if the owner didn't really feel like putting them in a better place. I smiled, looking over my shoulder at Kain. He was admiring the stained oak wooden walls, some family pictures. I saw a dark-haired man with a smiling face sitting amidst a dozen dogs in one picture, his arms around them protectively. He wore a blue fleece jacket, which wasn't a lot for a picture taken at night.

"Soran?" I said to Kain, who shrugged.

"He's in here," Mr. Grant said, and opened a small glass door that led into a long library, the walls lined with bookshelves and soft, dark tones everywhere, a cabernet carpet and an oriental rug on top of that underneath a glass coffee table. He sat at the coffee table, with a small golden retriever laying in his lap.

Mr. Grant disappeared to fetch us something to drink, most likely. I stood next to Kain, feeling immensely confused. I half-expected my mentor, Jane, to emerge from somewhere and embrace me with her soft perfume and her powerful arms. She was a strong lady.

"Welcome," Soran greeted kindly. He stroked the dog's head, and then the honey-brown eyes opened and peered up at us, half-slit and glazed with pleasure. "Won't you have a seat?"

Kain shook his head a little. He wasn't all too trusting, was he? I trembled slightly before him as I sat, feeling myself weakened slightly. Soran was strong, and shared the same honey-brown eye-color of his golden canine friend. The vampire took a deep breath, understanding Kain's distrust.

"I understand that you two have nowhere to stay? And Father Bryan is taking care of you?"

"Yes," I answered softly. "Father Bryan's a nice man, but he can't really tell that Kain's different and that's all we really care about."

Soran smiled. He stirred, and at once his golden friend rose to his legs, hopped down, and waddled around the coffee table toward me. I stretched my hands out, touched his ears and his face, momentarily taking my eyes from Soran. It didn't occur to me that he might take offense; he didn't seem like the guy to get angry about little things.

"Kain is your father?" he asked carefully, crossing his legs. He wore a simple pair of jeans, a black sweater, and some soft men's slippers. "It's a silly question. Stories have circulated of a strange vampire who kills with his mind alone, followed by a witch-girl."

"The stories are true," Kain replied smoothly, and started forward, leaning close with his hand against the arm-chair. "I would be careful of what you do and say, because I am unforgiving of mistakes."

"I understand," Soran said, patting his talons with a shaky hand. His fingers looked that much less effective compared to Kain's great and terrible claws. "If it's alright with you, may I stand and show you where you might find some refreshment? I am Soran, as you may know." He stood up, motioning to her. "And this is Amanda, the girl who wrote the letter."

"I can't write in your symbols," Kain responded indignantly. "I asked that she dictate."

"That's understandable. You are from another world, aren't you? You really are a strange one!" Soran smiled, and wandered toward a sort of bar trolley, opening a bottle of pungent blood. My thirst stirred, and Kain helped me back to my feet. I squeezed myself past the overly friendly golden retriever and stood beside him. Soran balanced three glasses of red vitae in two hands, offering us two. I took one; Kain took the second, and we both sipped almost simultaneously.

--Kain--

We conversed for several hours, each of us exchanging facts in turn, and while I enjoyed talking and grew more and more at ease in his presence, Amanda's face seemed to grow distant, focused on little things like a book across the room, occasionally glancing toward the Reaver. As if Raziel were inside, trying to reach her...

_Did he love her?_ I wondered. _Did he have feelings for her? Was her love returned?_

I found my gaze wandering to the sword as well. I stroked it chilling surface, feeling the metal thrum like a purring cat under my caress. I was getting tired, and I'd drained two full glasses of blood without even noticing it. Was the sun rising? I couldn't tell, since the drapes were turned down over the windows. Mr. Grant entered, leading more dogs into the room. Amanda was startled out of her thoughts, as I was, and each dog had to have a turn at sniffing us, before licking Amanda and pushing their paws against her shoulders to hold her down.

"S-Soran, your dogs are so damn friendly for a guy who never has visitors!"

"They have visitors all the time! I run a kennel here," Soran said, and then with one look at the dog currently possessing Amanda's face with kisses, commanded, "_Down._"

Obedience was almost magical. Amanda wiped her face with a sheepish grin, standing up. "You'll retire upstairs, won't you?"

"I went back to get your dog, miss Amanda," Mr. Grant said. "He's making friends with the others."

Amanda bit her cheek to keep from freaking out. He was smaller than them - wouldn't they eat him? I felt these thoughts from her without even trying; in return, I thought that she worried far too much. "I request that he stay in my room, if that's okay. I just saved him..."

After their good mornings and assurances of safety, Amanda went to bed, still not knowing who Soran was or what he was up to. I wasn't that sleepy, and retired to another room in front of a fireplace, crackling warmly in the hearth.

"Tell me of your home world, Lord Kain," Soran requested with an inclination of his head, lowering his eyes. He didn't want to insult me, as if sensing that Amanda's absence would leave me more room to harm him.

I couldn't help smiling. "I've traveled through time. I can tell you about my world from any time you wish... but as for my present, where I truly believe I now belong, I am the Scion of Balance. I must return life to my world, as I was meant to do, and use this sword to do it."

"I feel strong magic from within. Is this what the Ancients called the Soul Reaver?" Soran cupped his chin in the palm of his hand, tapping his lips with his immaculate fingernails.

My lips curled as I straightened. "Your Ancients know of this weapon?"

"We all have our legends. None of us have seen it ourselves, except here and now. I am afraid to touch it..." Soran uncrossed his legs, then crossed them the other way, his eyes transfixed with a feverish intensity on the blade. I held it out to him, and he withdrew from it as I expected.

"Is there something called the Time Streamer? I know there is one in Rome, as Amanda told me. But are there ones that can take me back to my world? I am sorely needed," I pressed, putting the Reaver back, leaning it against the hearth beside me. The heat from the fire warmed me, beckoning me to sleep while the sun blazed behind the winter clouds outside.

"There is indeed a contraption like that, dating back to Medieval times," Soran replied, glad to see the weapon out of Kain's hands. He fidgeted, staring at his hands before looking at Kain. "It lies in England... but it will be difficult getting there. My selfish brethren guard it passionately, just as those in Rome."

"Are you related to them at all?"

"Distantly. Even thus detached from them, I despise them and wish only that they leave me in peace. They are always badgering me to abandon my dogs and my home to join the fight." The vampire Soran reached toward a sheaf of paper next to him on a small end table, and handed it to Kain. The Scion of Balance took it, then handed it back, flushed and a bit agitated.

"I told you, I can't read. This means nothing to me."

"It's a letter from my cousin, Freidrich. He demanded that you were to show up on my doorstep, to let him know immediately to have you arrested," Soran said, taking a whiff of the paper. "He's a brown-nosing son of a bitch. He wrote it in his own blood!"

"No wonder it smelled so awful." Kain smiled again, and the two vampires grinned at each other.

"But I will not be handing you over to them, nor am I telling them that you're here. You are safe here, and Mr. Grant will serve you just as he serves me. If you ever need something from the house, just ask and it will be yours. Sleep, and we will discuss more tomorrow night. You look very tired, Lord Kain. Will you rest?"

"I rest with my daughter," I answered with a curt nod. His look confused me, until I answered swiftly with a jerk of my head. "No! She is my daughter, not my lover. There is no excuse for that kind of behavior!"

"Alright," Soran replied, waving his hands to ward off my anger. "Don't get angry. I was confused, that's all. How am I to know your world's customs from mine? I care not. Some vampires think it extremely bizarre that I favor the company of dogs over the company of my own kind!"

"I understand. Don't worry - I don't kill without reason... and if I do, it's rarely a bad one."

"I see. Goodnight, m'lord."

"You can call me Kain," the Scion of Balance said as an afterthought, offering a small smile.


	17. Duo 'Goodnight, Daughter'

--Kain--

The darkness of the halls were penetrated by infrequent beams of moonlight that spilled through the shades. The blue carpet contrasted with the cabernet carpet downstairs.

"Raziel," I said softly, stopping to address the weapon. "What were you trying to say downstairs? When we were talking? You almost had my attention completely..."

The skull's eyes blazed with that familiar fire, demanding, and if I was not mistaken, slightly... melancholy. I sighed. "You are not beyond love, not even in the confines of this sorcery," I whispered, brushing my fingers over the steel. Suddenly, heavy with grief and helplessness, I sheathed the sword again and retreated toward the bedroom where I heard Amanda talking to herself.

"--so much for water-vulnerability. Wow! This is great. Raziel, I can take a shower!"

There was a metal creak, a rush of water, and then another small brittle laugh; my blood turned freezing, and without thinking I rushed into the room, knocking open the pearl white door with its golden handle (not a doorknob), and caught sight of Amanda just as she was taking off her towel. Her back was to me, and the fine lined scars of her abuse were revealed until she spun her towel shut over her thankfully unseen front, spinning around. Her eyes were comically huge, her jaw having dropped open.

"What... are you doing here!?" she whispered. Raziel the dog sat on the closed toilet lid, his rear end wiggling with his joy. "What's wrong with you? Don'tcha have any freaking sense of privacy!?" Each word was articulated as if she were speaking to a dolt.

"You can't get in the water!" I managed, imagining myself blushing. "It'll burn you..."

"Are you kidding me?" She bent, and shoved her arm through the shower curtains, her eyes cold and impassive as the liquid soaked her fingers. When brought forth again, it was totally unharmed. She held her towel shut with that hand, then grabbed me with her dry fingers, pulling me. "Here, let me show you."

"NO!" I roared, pulling but the shower was only inches away, only inches away from stinging and burning and eventually the agony that came with the barest touch of water.

I didn't fight, afraid I'd hurt her or perhaps break something. Instead I shut my eyes, trembling until I felt the water pour on the hand she held. She let go, and my hand stayed in the rush of semi-hot water. I pulled it free, looking at it with mild shock. It didn't hurt... and some of the dirt and grime that had accumulated on my long journeys seemed to come off.

"See? Your vulnerability to water must have faded. Now, seeing as how I never was vulnerable, I'm gonna jump in. You mind?" Amanda pushed me, and out I went.

I sat on the edge of the bed, after closing the thick tapestries that guarded from the sun. I rubbed the water into my skin, finding myself wanting more of it. I never occured to me that I had no idea how long it had been since I've ever had a bath. Probably not since the laid me in my tomb... from which I rose, nothing like myself, and much angrier. Vengeance was on my mind... so many things were on my mind then...

Amanda emerged in a pair of white leggings she called sweat-pants, black, snug night-shirt and little else, fairly startling me too. I hardly heard the shower shut off and the door open. The young woman clambered onto the bed, yawning. Raziel closed in on us, jumping up, and barked at me as if I were in his way. I smirked, and moved over so the mutt may have his place. I watched her, collapsing though she was, struggle her way under the sheets and close her eyes. I took this as my signal to leave.

I reached for the door, stopping at her imploring tone, "Wait."

Her eyes were wide and bright. Both of their eyes were, seeing as the small dog had found his way snuggled against her legs. A smile evolved from the white lines of her mouth, charming me into coming back to her. I put the Soul Reaver aside on the shelf, nudging a few needless objects out of the way on my way, stepping up to her with my hands clasped behind me.

"What is it, daughter?"

"Will you be across the hall?"

"I'll be anywhere you need me to be. Right here, even."

"That'll do," she replied, scooting over with Raziel to make room.

_I'll assume that she wants nothing more than to be near me, _I thought privately. Which was probably true. But, as it was, Amanda was a confusing, contradictory creature. So, removing most of my bulky armor, I slipped into the blankets and yawned myself. I felt the sun beating against the shades to come in, but otherwise this house felt more safe than anything I'd ever known.

--Amanda--

In the morning - ah, I should rather say evening - I woke to find Kain had gone and woke up without me. Raziel was probably downstairs, eating breakfast with the bigger dogs, and hopefully not being on the menu. I stood up, thirsty and unsure as to what I would be drinking tonight. I went downstairs, perfectly comfortable without changing, and found myself heralded by the husky bitch I'd seen outside the night before. I smiled, bent, and she came to me willingly, sniffing me all over, before she let me touch her. She was beautifully soft. From the kitchen, Razzy came, wagging his little tail and begging attention. I gathered him up into my arms, carrying him into the kitchen.

There were a few cardboard boxes. Mr. Grant was just carrying the last one in, and his eyes were full of good cheer. Once more I felt like a little kid walking into Christmas morning, only it was full of creepy nice guys and, oh, let's not forget vampires and strange doors and sorcery.

"Where's Kain? And Soran, for that matter?"

"They've gone out for a few minutes. Mr. Kain took a shower. He was in there for forty-five minutes! What do you suppose he was doing in there?"

I smiled, considering. "Well... taking a shower, what else?"

Mr. Grant offered me another one of his I-am-the-servant grins and humored me. "Oh, I see. As you can see, all of our dog friends have been fed."

"Are Soran and Kain hunting now?"

"They're... getting breakfast, yes. Kain said something about bringing something back for you, but master Soran insisted that it would all be taken care of. Ta-da!" One flourish revealed to me a bottle of warmed blood. I cringed at first. Then I drank it all.

Kain came back after I finished the bottle. He was smiling, and clean, and amazingly pretty now that he wore some clothes that Soran bought him. There were some boxes filled with similar articles, and then Soran dropped a big old box in MY lap.

"It's heavy," I said, testing it. Inside was a beautiful leather jacket with my name embossed on the left breast pocket. I put this on for the hell of it, while Razzy tried to chew on the cardboard box lid I'd put on the floor. There were new pants, all of them fitting perfectly and felt fantastic. There were sweaters of all different colors, mostly red, blues and blacks.

"Who?" I wanted to know, glaring at the two guilty vampires.

"It was Kain's idea," Soran laughed softly, patting his shoulder before he flinched away. "Sorry. Anyway, he says he ought to spoil you once before you go."

"Where are we going now? Another portal? I swear, if I see another portal--"

"--he's got to go home and finish his destiny--"

"I can't stay here forever." Kain folded his arms over his broad chest, his new clothes making him look like a rockstar of some kind. I stood up, setting the box on the edge of the chair. "But..."

He must have read my thoughts, because I didn't want to leave. It felt great here, and the longer I stayed the longer I didn't want to go anywhere. Which is why we had to leave as soon as possible. I touched Razzy's ears, making sure I wasn't going to cry. I looked up, blinking a few times, knowing that I was going to no matter what. I clenched my hands.

"Can't I live... here?"

"You're coming with me. Now that you know Soran, his so-called relatives will be after you, especially for your powers. You're a vampire, but you're young yet. You have certain vulnerabilities that your elders will take advantage of."

"What kind of vulnerabilities?" I challenged, my voice taking on that agitating edge and snarly quality that Kain didn't like to hear. It was like listening to thorns break skin.

"Don't ask me," Kain returned coldly, approaching me with deliberate slowness. "Unless you want a demonstration."

A thrill skidded down my spine. The challenge itself was hard to deny, and rebellion was hard to give up once you were used to it. Instead of standing down, I stood tall. Unfortunately, Soran broke the confrontation before it could get ugly.

"Well, whenever you are ready to move on, I have transportation ready at any time."

"That won't be necessary," I grumbled, raking a hand through my hair angrily. "I have magic. Just give me what I need to get us there, and it'll take us less time than it takes for me to say 'abracadabra'."

--Kain--

The next day followed like any other day before traveling. Preparations were made, as much as could be for such a journey. I thought Amanda's challenge only meant two things: she was afraid. Also, if she didn't want to come with me, maybe she wanted to live peacefully. Maybe she didn't believe this portal would work, or worse, it did work and the both of us ended up on yet another bizarre planet. The thought had crossed my well-weathered mind.

I watched Amanda say good-bye to our new furry friend. It seemed all too soon to be saying such good-byes. She held her dog-friend close for a few moments (I could swear on my soul I saw a hint of understanding of what was going to happen, and sorrow in that little animal's wise dark eyes).


	18. Duo 'End'

--Amanda--

Deep in the countryside of Soran's homeland, there was yet another hidden fortress. I was no longer surprised that they were scattered across the planet just as they were in Kain's Nosgoth. Deep inside its catacombs, ill-guarded by young fledglings which at Soran's command were quite easily dispatched.

"Will you be able to understand the machinations of this contraption?" Soran inquired as we stood, the three of us, in the room with the ancient machinery. It took some doing getting inside, for there were a number of complicated locks. Kain was an expert, of course, and we had it opened within a half an hour. Now in the great room, through which we could see the stars (the room itself cleverly hidden inside an old monastery). The walls were carved with the familiar depictions of prophecy that showed the faceless girl and Raziel, the black-haired man with the glowing eyes. Kain didn't ask about them, for I had told him much about these cracked and forgotten whispers of death.

"Amanda's magic may reveal the secrets of this place. You may no longer be needed," Kain replied dismissively. But then the two vampires clasped each other's hands and looked into each other's eyes, sharing a Whisper that I couldn't hear. Then they parted, Soran kissing each of Kain's aged, dark cheeks and he strode away with his footsteps dying into the darkness.

I knew afterward what I had been made to do. I looked into the palm of my hand, which bore Kain's lord symbol. I rubbed my nose against it gently and then rose my hands to the air. I didn't need any components to do this. Just lots of faith, plenty of power, and some blood.

Kain stood by and watched with his arms folded, his gold eyes glittering in the lights that fell from around me. I wore the simplest clothing we could find, because it wouldn't be cool if I showed up in Nosgoth in sneakers, baggy carpenter's pants, and a low-hanging blouse and a gold Rolex?

The floor shook; the Nosgothian figures began to swirl and pulsate in the floor and along the tall arches of the portal, and in the direct center of the arches there was a light that flickered and burned.

Once the portal was started, and my powers began to drain on my energy, I offered my fledgling blood. The liquid spilled through the floor, following a deeply beveled track that circled around in a wicked spiral that looked like the golden clasp that Kain used to wear to clip his clan banner together.

He wore his old attire again, the Reaver across his back glowing brightly with each of the Balance Symbols plugged into it. I was glad to see him like that, because I finally saw him for who he was - the Scion of Balance, the one who was going to save Nosgoth. Would I be there by his side when it happened? I would never go home, and no one here would miss me. All I had was Kain, and as I watched him approach the portal and stop for me, holding out his hand, I realized he was the one man I would love as my father as long as I lived. Not some faceless name who sent child support every week, but Kain! He stood proudly in the changing light and turbulent wind coming through the portal, cold and clean as outer space.

I grabbed his hand and clung to it tightly, my eyes squeezing shut. The portal was churning like an angry cauldron of blood soup. Kain pulled me confidently toward it, and I held the image of Nosgoth as Kain described it in my mind as hard as I could. If I didn't, we might be cast to the spatial winds and pretty much lost forever.

--Kain--

The pull of space was familiar, not unlike the irreversible pull of time. I held the image of the pillars in my mind for as long as I could. That last brief glimpse I had seen after 'healing' them with the Reaver, before I had tumbled through the portal to this hellish modern world. Focusing on a single point of light, we flew through the darkness holding fast to each other. It did us no good. The journey was hard, and the technology and magic far too old and broken-down to keep us safe. Forces of nature beyond my comprehension buffeted us back and forth, bearing us still toward that light, but threatening to tear us apart.

I clutched her hand tightly, but she was bleeding and it made my grasp slip. She was screaming something over and over again, the whites of her eyes blazing so intensely they blinded me. Still the winds ravaged us, throwing invisible projectiles through our bodies, spilling our blood which spun out into the infinite like red tornadoes. One more burst of energy like that--

And we were split apart. I watched her fall from me (or rise - I lost any and all sense of direction), screaming and calling my name, and finally, as the magic emptied me on a solitary rump of grass and leaves, another word echoing on the spatial winds. It sounded like 'father'.

--Amanda--

I was lost for awhile. My breath gusted out of me with one final buffet of sonic wind, until I crashed through a grove of trees that stopped short in front of a huge door. I bashed my head off a rock and howled with pain, rolling to a stop against a wooden plank. A metal pull-switch about three feet high stood upon it, connected to some hidden mechanism inside the ground. I was in so much pain I didn't notice any of these things until later.

I rolled back and forth, habitually curled into a ball with my hands curved over the back of my head. I sat up slowly, swallowing my own blood to keep from throwing it up. Finally, I looked around. My vision was blurred and all I saw were tall, double-images of dark, vertical objects that poked into the sky. Then slowly, painfully, my vision focused.

Then I looked around. Kain! I lost him! He was with me in that... whatever-you-call-it, the worm-hole, the magic zoomer thing. God, I couldn't think straight to save my life. It was a good thing I didn't have to save my life at that moment, come to think of it. It was night and the moon and stars were as unfamiliar to me as the trees I saw. They looked a little like pines. But where was Kain?

"Kain!!" I shrieked desperately, my voice echoing from the hills. I felt absolutely alone and I didn't like it. Not one bit. "KAAAAIN!!!" I crawled forward on my hands and knees, my pants already scuffed up from rolling across the ground. I bit my cheek hard, shivering. I was afflicted by thirst and alone. Was this even Nosgoth?

I struggled like a newborn to my feet, cursing under my breath that I should be so weak already. Finally upright, I looked around me one last time. Kain was nowhere to be found. I was alone. Really alone. Mom had forgotten me long ago, and Kain was either dead now or lost to some other world. It didn't occur to me he was alive and well somewhere here in Nosgoth... but my grief was too great for me to see around. I could not fathom other possibilities or perceive other notions around its great bulk. I conveyed myself with a numbing sort of understanding to the switch and pulled it while staring at the door.

Something compelled me to do it. Maybe logic did not abandon me in my time of madness. I felt wicked to be here, out of place, an outsider that did not belong in every sense of the word. But when I pulled that switch, I came to the conclusion that if I stayed, I would grow weaker until I couldn't move any more and then die a slow, painful death. If I kept moving, I might be able to find some nourishment... somewhere...

"Father," I whispered, a tear rolling down my cheek. The rising door finally made a loud, demanding sound that jarred me out of my morbid thoughts. I walked toward the door, spotting something through a dense fog ahead of that. A tangle of vines and greenery wreathed my path like ceremonial decoration. That, at least, was the only sign that I felt accepted.

--Kain--

The winds conveyed me brutally through the darkness, tossing me against a brick wall and through it, casting me down into hell in a cloud of dust and debris that so thoroughly blinded me that I had no time to establish 'up' and 'down' quite yet. I heard the word she had called with all of her soul echoed back at me, mocking me, while coils of burning hot energy circled around my body and spread over the ground where I had fallen. An egg-shaped ceiling burst overhead, marred with cracks and decay, but still impressing the viewer with an image of an angelic figure, with wings out-stretched to deal judgment or salvation.

A groan of despair pulled itself out of my lips like an invasive parasite, just now escaping its predestined host. I felt my body sink deeper as I relaxed, relenting to the pain that was searing through me. But my closed eyes only revealed to me how she looked when my grasp slipped. She looked terrified and betrayed at once. My talons closed against my palms and bit deeply.

This chapel was probably the last whole building dedicated to a dead religion my predecessors had accorded. Ironic that it should break my 'fall' and rescue me from death, isn't it? I know what you're thinking - that this is the end, and Amanda will die alone just like she always thought she would.

How little you know about me!

If you think for one moment of your pathetic mortal lives that I would let such a thing happen... then what would the next story be about?

So it was I lifted my body out of the rubble with a grunt of determination. I checked the Reaver, relieved to see it lying in the dust nearby. I picked it up and brushed the grit from the unbent steel. Raziel was soul-starved and I was bloodthirsty and no better equipped to compensate for either condition than in any journey on which I had embarked. But I had a different journey now - it was not for myself that I traveled, nor for any personal gain or to save the world. My task now was solely set - I would save my daughter, oh, most definitely.


End file.
